A drug dealer caught with ecstasy in The Source Bar will serve three years and three months behind bars.

Valentino Aghssa, formerly of Paddock Wood, was arrested at the Rose Yard venue in July last year after another man who had been detained for a drug search identified him as being the one who sold him drugs.

After he was arrested police officers seized 25 pills and £380 in cash from him.

The pills were found to have a street value of £250 and he was charged with possessing ecstacy with intent to supply.

The 30-year-old appeared before Maidstone Crown Court on Friday (April 25) and sentenced following a trial of issue.

This means he pleaded guilty to the offence but gave a different version of the facts put forward by the prosecution.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Mo Nolan from Kent Police said: “We work hard to tackle drugs offences in Maidstone, whether that is using drugs or selling them, and every custodial prison sentence served helps disrupt the illegal drugs trade.

“There are a lot of health risks involved with taking controlled drugs and equally the risk for people who are involved in supplying them is the likelihood of a substantial prison sentence should they be caught.”