A COURT judge has warned that Banbury has become a ''prolific' hive for dealing Class A drugs.

Judge Ian Pringle QC was speaking at a sentencing hearing yesterday for a man caught as part of a Thames Valley Police crackdown on drug dealers in the town.

Carl Bleach, of Mold Crescent, Banbury, appeared at Oxford Crown Court yesterday having already admitted one count of being concerned in the supply of cocaine and one of supplying cocaine to another.

The court heard how the 27-year old was caught as part of ‘Operation Joust’ which aimed to tackle drug dealing in Banbury between November last year and April of this year.

Prosecutors at the hearing said that Bleach was initially asked by an undercover officer if he could ‘score drugs’ on two occasions – once on January 27 and again on February 22.

The first time the undercover officer was sold two wraps of cocaine by Bleach – who referred to himself as ‘Bleachy’, which on analysis was recorded as being of 66 per cent purity.

On the second drug deal Bleach took the officer to the outside of a property at Longelandes Way, Banbury, which he said was where the drugs line – which he referred to as ‘Ash’ came from.

Bleach then sold the officer more drugs after telling him there had been ‘violence’ in setting up the so-called ‘Ash’ line.

At the sentencing hearing defence barrister Francis Howard argued that his client was simply ‘street dealing’ and had sold the drugs to fund his own drug habit and was no higher up the chain than that.

He said: “He is an inveterate user of opiates, of Class A drugs and he has pleaded guilty at the first opportunity available to him.

“He is a vulnerable young man who has had mental health problems in the past.”

Sentencing, Judge Ian Pringle QC put Bleach at the higher category and said he had a significant role in the operation.

During his sentencing remarks he went on to warn that Banbury had become a town with a teeming drugs problem.

He said: “This operation that caught you was an operation designed to cut down the prolific supply of Class A drugs that occurs these days in Banbury.

“And therefore you must realise you will be treated like all Class A drug dealers, in a serious way. You fall into the significant role."

Bleach was jailed for a total of 32 months for the two offences and must pay a victim surcharge.