A former army medic had been supplying drugs to fund his addiction to cocaine which he took to calm down his symptoms of a medical condition.

Jack Hort, 28, joined the army when he was 16 and was posted overseas spending five years as a "front-line medic" in a "terribly difficult job" where he "put his life on the line to serve his country" in various places, including Afghanistan.

Norwich Crown Court heard Hort, with "some echo of the trauma he observed still in him", suffered from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and turned to taking cocaine which "calmed" both him and his condition.

Eastern Daily Press: Norwich Crown CourtNorwich Crown Court (Image: Peter Walsh, Newsquest)Dickon Edwards, prosecuting, said Hort was arrested in Dereham as a result of "other matters" during which his phone was seized.

It was examined and found to contain a number of messages relating to the supply of cocaine.

Eastern Daily Press: Jack Hort leaving Norwich Crown CourtJack Hort leaving Norwich Crown Court (Image: Peter Walsh, Newsquest)Hort, from South Ockendon, Essex but who is due to be moving to Dereham, appeared for sentence on Tuesday after he admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine between September 29 2022 and November 18 2022.

Oliver Haswell, mitigating, said it was the ADHD which had been the "cause of his offending".

He said being an overseas army medic was "far from an easy job" and resulted in him taking cocaine to calm the symptoms of his condition.

Mr Haswell said the cocaine became a "crutch" in his life but resulted in him becoming addicted to the class A drug.

He said Hort supplied drugs to a "limited" number of people and was "essentially servicing a small group of friends".

Recorder Nicola Fitches said: "Drugs destroy lives and have a devastating impact on wider society - the very society you set out to protect in the army from a very young age".

But she agreed the supply "didn't have the hallmarks of a large-scale commercial operation" and accepted "the struggles you've had with your mental health".

Hort was given a 22-month prison sentence, suspended for 24 months as well as 20 days Rehabilitation Activity Requirement (RAR) and a 12-month mental health treatment requirement.