A PRISONER caught dealing Spice behind bars had almost £5,000 worth of the drug, a court heard.

Serial drug dealer Luke Hale, 28, had almost 100 grams of the former legal high at Dartmoor Prison, reported Plymouth Herald.

Plymouth Crown Court heard that he claimed he was keeping the synthetic canniboid for someone else — and was handed some of the drugs in payment.

Hale’s own barrister admitted that Spice ‘wreaked havoc’ in prisons.

But the defendant, since released from jail, was handed a suspended sentence.

Recorder Simon Levene said: ‘Drugs in prison are a big problem. Everyone knows that. But since your release from prison you seem determined to change your ways.

‘You have stable accommodation and a family life with a daughter and you are in full time employment.’

Hale, of Winterbourne near Bristol, pleaded guilty to possession of the psychoactive substance with intent to supply at HMP Dartmoor between November 2 and November 10, 2016.

The offence has a maximum of seven years in prison.

Emily Cook, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said that Hale was caught with just under 100 grams of Spice. She added that the drugs were valued at £4,900 behind bars where contraband has a greater value than on the street.

The court heard that Hale was jailed for four years in 2011 for dealing Class A drugs.

He received the same sentence for a similar offence in September 2014 — the term he was serving when he was caught with the Spice in 2016.

Nick Lewin, for Hale, admitted: ‘This particular drug wreaks havoc in a prison environment.’

He added that Hale had been warehousing the drug, or holding it for someone else, in return for his own supply.

Mr Lewin said that Hale had received a positive probation report marking his progress since his release in May last year.

He added the defendant had the support of his partner and his unnamed employers, who were aware of his past and his latest conviction.

The barrister said: ‘There seems to be evidence that he has crossed a bridge. He is determined to leave the world of drugs and the world of crime behind him.’

Recorder Levene handed Hale a two-year prison sentence, but suspended it for two years. He added that he must also do 240 hours unpaid work.

The court heard that Hale will remain on his post-release licence.