A young father became “embroiled in the murky world of drug trafficking” after being preyed upon by dealers while living on the streets of London, a court has heard.

Keiron Hunter, 23, of Bull Close Road, Norwich, was homeless and sleeping rough in London when he was “recruited” by dealers and posted to Norfolk as part of a wider drug operation.

Here, he prolifically supplied class A drugs including heroin, cocaine and diamorphine, across a period of two years, using several mobile phones to make thousands of communications with “customers”.

On Tuesday, he was sentenced to more than five years in jail, after pleading guilty to two charges concerning the supply of class A drugs.

Martin Ivory, prosecuting, told the court how on one occasion in 2018 police raided a home on Bull Close Road in Norwich where they found Hunter, 38-year-old Caroline Leeder and 49-year-old Adrian Read all in possession of class A drugs. On this occasion Hunter had £1,450 in cash in his pocket.

Mr Ivory also told of a second occasion when Hunter was pulled over while driving, in October 2019, and found with another large amount of cash and Class A drugs. A search of his pregnant girlfriend’s home in Hevingham in February 2020 unearthed mobile phones linked to his dealing and other paraphernalia.

Appearing via video link from HMP Norwich, Hunter read a letter to Norwich Crown Court describing “a hard life” he is living and “all the stuff gone wrong”.

He said: “I have had a lot of time to reflect on my past, I know I have done wrong and I am sorry for breaking to law.

“I am trying to do as many courses as I can so that when I leave prison I can be a good father to my two children, one of which is yet to be born.”

Sentencing Hunter to five-and-a-half years in jail, Judge Anthony Bate said: “It is sad to see a young man get embroiled in the murky world of drug trafficking.”

For their parts, Read received a 12-month suspended prison sentence and Leeder was given a 12-month community order.