CASH found on William Douglas, a Chippenham crack-cocaine user who had been addicted to drugs for 14 years, was given to him by his parents to pay off a dealer, a court was told on Monday.

Douglas, 29, of Ridings Mead, pleaded guilty at Chippenham Magistrates Court to possession of cocaine.

Becky Abbott, prosecuting, said police spotted Douglas, a known drug addict, in the rear of a car with two other passengers in Hungerdown Lane, in Chippenham, on February 12.

The court heard police officers stopped and searched the car, before taking all three men to the police station where they were searched.

Miss Abbott said police discovered a wrap of crack-cocaine worth £90 concealed between Douglas' buttocks and £120 in cash. He was arrested, but the other two men were released without charge.

She said Douglas admitted using cannabis and crack that he obtained from various locations in Chippenham, which he refused to reveal.

The court heard that at 11am on February 12 he left a friend's house and telephoned someone he refused to name to buy crack.

Miss Abbott said Douglas was carrying £70, which he told police was given to him by his parents, £30 from a friend who owed him money, and £20 from another friend who was grateful for the help he had given her with her addiction.

In his police interview Douglas claimed the male in the front passenger seat of the car passed him a package, which he believed was crack cocaine. But the prosecution said the two men claimed to have no idea what Douglas had.

Julie Philips, defending, told the court how Douglas came from a stable middle-class background and had a supportive family. She said the family has struggled to deal with his problems and had sent him to rehabilitation clinics in London to try to wean him from his addiction.

Miss Jennings said Douglas' parents stand by their son, but don't know why he keeps going back to drugs. She told the court they hoped their son's latest arrest would be a turning point in his life. They gave him cash to get a drug dealer off his back.

Miss Jennings said at the age of 29 Douglas had had enough of looking over his shoulder and worrying about who he owed money to. The court heard that he was also tired of the physical cravings, but was struggling to cope.

"My client has 14 years of criminal convictions, which are all related directly or indirectly to drug use," Miss Jennings said.

She said the most serious of these was a conviction he received in 2000, which included a charge of intent to supply Class A drug. The court heard that he served two-and-a-half years in prison and came out clean.

"It sorted out his physical cravings, but prison did not deal with the mental side of his addiction," Miss Jennings said.

He returned to Chippenham and found full-time employment working for a motorway company. The court heard that Douglas earned good money for nine months and stayed clean of drugs, until he met a girl.

The court heard that Douglas did not realise his girlfriend was a drug abuser. When he found out he felt he could help her, but instead he started using again.

"He admits now that it was a stupid thing to do and being around someone using drugs was the worse thing he could do," Miss Jennings said.

The court heard how Douglas lost his job and started using heroin and crack cocaine.

Miss Jennings said Douglas was currently receiving prescribed medication, including Valium, and was smoking cannabis, but he was not using crack.

She told the court he was also attending counselling sessions with the Drugs Advisory Service.

Sentencing was adjourned to June 24 for pre-sentence reports.