A teenage county lines drug dealer who threw away a bag and his coat as he was being chased by police in Bury St Edmunds has been given a suspended sentence.

Police officers saw Dylan Zdrenka leaving Bury St Edmunds railway station in May last year and recognised him because of previous drug convictions.

Other officers joined in a search for the teenager, who was 17 at the time, and during a chase he was seen to discard a bag and his coat, said Lori Tucker, prosecuting.

The coat and bag were recovered and were found to contain 8g of cocaine worth between £360 and £540 and 148g of cannabis worth between £250 and £750 depending on whether the drugs were sold in bulk or street deals.

Miss Tucker said Zdrenka was either a courier or street dealer or both who’d come from London and was engaged in county lines drug dealing.

Zdrenka, now 18, of Wellington Street, Ipswich, admitted possessing cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply.

He was given 19 months youth detention suspended for 18 months.

Recorder Heather Rogers QC also made a £505 confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Recorder Rogers said that in January Zdrenka was given a 20 month sentence of youth detention suspended for two years for possessing class A drugs with intent to supply. Those offences were committed in 2019 and on that occasion the sentencing court was unaware of the current offences.

Steven Dyble for Zdrenka said his client had been doing everything he could to comply with the suspended sentence order and had been trying to put his drug dealing past behind him.

He urged the court to allow his client to continue the good progress he was making and not to pass an immediate period of detention.