A HEROIN addict has been jailed for three years after he was caught with £10,000-worth of drugs at his home.

Braham Aissaoui, 27, was found to have 474 ecstasy tablets and 231g of amphetamine sulphate when police raided his house, Swindon Crown Court heard.

Rob Welling, prosecuting, said the drugs were in a bag which was stored in a box at the top of the stairs in his home at Westbury Leigh.

Mr Welling said the amphetamine was worth more than £5,000 and the ecstasy £4,740 if they were sold at £10 each.

When he was questioned by police, Aissaoui's solicitor read a prepared statement accepting that his client was holding the drugs for someone else.

The court heard that in 1995 Aissaoui was put on community service by West Wiltshire magistrates for possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

He was also jailed for four years in 1997 when he was again caught with ecstasy and amphetamines worth about £75,000 with intent to supply.

Mr Welling said that on that occasion he also claimed that he was holding the 703 ecstasy tablets and one kilogram of amphetamines for another person.

On that occasion the defendant was driving a car which contained the drugs and was acting as a courier.

Aissaoui, of Morgans Walk, Westbury Leigh, Westbury, admitted possessing ecstasy and amphetamines with intent to supply.

The court was told that while the street value of the drugs could be more than £10,000, in reality their value was significantly lower as ecstasy tablets retailed for far less than £10.

Aissaoui, who is married with a young child, was released from his last prison term in August 1999 and has remained out of trouble since then.

He had been working selling pet food on a market stall but his heroin addiction had got the better of him and led him to store the drugs for someone.

Jailing him, Judge John McNaught said: "By looking after drugs for people you play an important part in a very seriously criminal and dangerous trade. You make it easy for drugs to be put into circulation."