A DRUG dealer who picked up a Samurai sword when police raided his caravan is starting a two-year jail sentence.

Oxford Crown Court heard Gino Schillaci, 33, hid packages of crack cocaine and heroin underneath the seat of a police car after he was arrested at his caravan in Blewbury, near Didcot.

When police forced open the door of his caravan last June they found drugs paraphernalia including foil, crack pipes and empty plastic Kinder Egg shells, which the court heard were a well-known way of transporting drugs.

Kevin Barry, prosecuting, said the drugs had a street value of £2,500 and were intended to be sold as well as fuelling Schillaci's own addiction.

He said: "Police looked through the window and saw Schillaci was holding a Samurai sword. A set of scales were seized. There were traces of heroin and cocaine on the weighing bed."

Officers answered Schillaci's mobile phone to two callers asking for drugs.

Paul Sharkey, defending, said Schillaci, now of Francis Gardens, Bracknell, only intended to sell the drugs to fuel his own addiction and not to fund an extravagant lifestyle.

He said Schillaci was now drug-free.

Schillaci admitted possessing 34 grams of heroin and 13 grams of crack cocaine with intent to supply.

His brother Antonio, 36, of the same address, who was accused of the same offences, was told his charges would lie on the file.