DEALERS ‘infiltrating’ the county who dished out drugs to an undercover cop have been thrown behind bars.

Anthony Antoniou and Colin McDonald were separately caught by a covert officer posing as addict ‘Joe’.

It came as part of a Thames Valley Police sting into a county lines network operating in the city, involving drugs bosses peddling their stash from outside Oxfordshire using ‘runners’.

Antoniou, of Villiers Road, Bicester, was jailed for 30 months, while McDonald, of Cowley Road, Oxford, was locked up for 32 months.

Prosecutor Cathy Olliver told Oxford Crown Court Joe was loitering in Manzil Way when Antoniou asked if he was on the hunt for drugs on July 13 last year.

He called a drugs line, ordering one wrap of heroin for himself, as well as two wraps of heroin and one of crack cocaine for Joe.

The pair strolled to Ridgefield Road’s Regal Community Centre, where Antoniou, 51, got into a Mercedes-Benz and grabbed the drugs, using £20 from the officer.

Defence barrister Lennart Poulsen said Antoniou, who has been battling a 30-year drug addiction and is on a methadone programm, was given a ‘home’ for the first time last year.

It would be a ‘tragedy’ if he was jailed, becoming homeless again and falling back into his drug habit, he claimed.

The barrister added Oxfam volunteer Antoniou ‘felt sorry’ for Joe, believing he was a fellow drug addict.

Joe also placed a telephone order for three wraps of heroin and one wrap of crack cocaine on December 8 last year.

He was later handed the drugs by McDonald, who was sitting on a bench in the children’s playground off Ridgefield Road, , Ms Olliver said on Thursday.

Defence barrister Gordana Turudija-Austin said McDonald ‘relapsed’ and turned to class A drugs after his sisters were diagnosed with cancer.

The 54-year-old father was ‘pressured’ into dealing to clear his £400 drugs debt, she claimed.

Antoniou admitted being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin, while McDonald admitted supplying a controlled drug of class A.

Judge Zoe Smith ordered forfeiture and destruction of the drugs and ordered both defendants to pay a victim surcharge.