A DRUG dealer found himself in the dock after Hampshire police uncovered hundreds of pills in his car - after he had dialled 999.

In what was described by the judge as a “bizarre” way of being caught, Southampton street dealer Darren Ward called police because he was being robbed at knifepoint.

But when officers arrived they found him his in car and discovered more than 500 pills inside.

This sparked a search of the 45-year-old's Nursling home, which uncovered more than 4,000 class C and prescription pills with a street value of more than £4,000.

Judge Peter Henry branded Ward's decision to call the police, despite knowing he was in possession of hundreds of pills he was intending to sell illegally, as “unusual”.

Southampton Crown Court heard how Ward, who suffers from various medical conditions, was arrested on August 8 last year, following his own call to 999.

He told operators that he was being robbed at knifepoint in Janson Road, Church End, Southampton, but when officers arrived they saw him driving erratically and suspected he was intoxicated.

They breathalysed him, which was negative, but a search of his car uncovered in excess of 500 pills in blister packs and bags.

Police then raided his home in Homefield Drive, where they found thousands of pills.

Prosecutor Matthew Lawson told the court that due to the sheer quantity of pills - around 4,300 - only 455 could be sent for testing by the experts.

These tests revealed that the pills were a mixture of class C and prescription drugs, which if sold individually, would have a street value of £1 each.

Ward pleaded guilty to four counts of possessing class C drugs with intent to supply and three counts of possessing medication with intent to supply - which relate only to the 455 pills tested.

In mitigation, Robert Bryan urged the judge not to send Ward to jail, as he has shown remorse by pleading guilty, he has very few previous convictions, none of which are drug related and he suffers from a serious medical condition, as well as anxiety and a low mood disorder.

He added: “You have to be pretty naive to ring the police up to report a robbery when you know you have all the drugs on you.”

Judge Henry sentenced Ward to four months in prison each for the four counts of possessing class C drugs with intent to supply and two months in prison each for the three counts of possessing prescription drugs with intent to supply. All sentences are to run concurrently.

However the four month sentence was suspended for two years, with Ward under a supervision order for 18 months and a curfew for three months.

Judge Henry said: “The manner in which you drew attention to yourself was something unusual and somewhat bizarre. To call the police when you had a large number of pills in your car, was careless.”