A 'VULNERABLE and gullible' Runcorn man became addicted to drugs - and then let his two suppliers deal crack and heroin from his own house, a court heard on Friday.

David Clarence Roberts, 61, was given a 12-month suspended sentence at Warrington Crown Court last Friday after pleading guilty to being involved in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine at an earlier hearing.

The court was told that he became involved in drug dealing when he was introduced to two long-time drug addicts, Lee Hodgson, aged 39, of Cranage Close, and Lee Davies, 28, of The Uplands, Palacefields.

All three men were arrested when officers from Halton Police's drugs team raided Roberts' home on Bridge Street on October 23 last year.

Police found drugs paraphernalia and keys to a flat where 22 bags of drugs were discovered.

Hodgson and Davies were jailed for five years after pleading guilty to supplying drugs at a previous hearing.

Sophie Smith QC, defending, said: "Roberts is a man who, in my opinion, was preyed upon by younger and more sophisticated men."

She said the pre-sentence report revealed Roberts to be a vulnerable and gullible man of low intelligence, with a history of depression and alcohol abuse.

Ms Smith said Hodgson and Davies 'deliberately targeted' Roberts and gave him drugs to get him addicted so they could use his house to deal.

She added: "His is still clearly very, very fearful of these two young men."

Det Sgt Simon Owen, of the Halton Drugs Squad, said after the trial: "People involved in drug dealing will be prosecuted regardless of their age or involvement. We don't discriminate. A drug dealer is a drug dealer."