A former Seaton man has been jailed for turning a public park into his own personal drug store.

Exeter Crown Court hears that Troy Coaker and his friend Adam Morris sold heroin and crack to a group of addicts quite openly and in view of families who were playing with their children in Belle Isle Park in Exeter.

They were caught by undercover police who were aware that the picturesque riverside park had become a haunt of drug users and dealers.

The two men were caught with £1,350 worth of drugs in a plastic tub, £657 cash from previous sales, and three phones, one of which was ringing constantly with new orders.

Coaker had only been released from jail 17 days earlier and was living rough. Both men were homeless at the time and started dealing to pay for their own drug habits.

The addicts who had gathered to meet them fled when they suspected they were being watched by police.

Coaker, aged 28, whose last address was Harbour Road, Seaton, and Morris, aged 22, of Exeter, both admitted possession of heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply and possession of criminal property.

Coaker was jailed for two years and eight months by Judge David Evans at Exeter Crown Court.

Morris’s sentence was adjourned for reports but he was told he will probably be jailed.

The Judge told them: “This was blatant drug dealing in a public park where the people of Exeter, adults and children, should be able to go and play and relax.

“In effect, on this afternoon you turned the park into your own drug store, operating together with Morris. You met addicts there to make your sales a short stone’s throw from law abiding members of the public, young and old.”

Bathsheba Cassel, for Coaker, said he was released from jail on June 6 without a home to go to and this meant he was unable to access the heroin substitute he was prescribed.

He started using heroin again because he was mixing with other homeless addicts and turned to dealing to fund his habit. He hopes to get clean in jail and do better next time he is released.

Kelly Scrivener, for Morris, said mental health issues may lie behind his drug use and he may be suitable for rehabilitation in the community rather than an immediate jail sentence.