A FATHER-of-three who dealt steroids from his Hampshire home has avoided an immediate jail term.

Police found about £300 of class C drugs and £1,170 in cash when they raided unemployed Darryl Sims’ home in Penarth Close, Southampton, in January this year.

The 27-year-old admitted to police he bought steroids for himself but also made some cash by selling them to friends, typically earning £500 profit from every £1,000 he purchased.

He admitted two counts of possession with intent to supply, and a third charge of attempting to supply drugs, after police analysis revealed one of the substances they found wasn’t the steroid Sims thought it was.

At Southampton Crown Court, Judge Peter Ralls QC sentenced Sims, whose wife is expecting their fourth child, to 40 weeks behind bars, but suspended the term for two years.

He also imposed a 12-month supervision order, and told him to complete a thinking skills programme and 100 hours of unpaid work. The drugs and all of the money, bar £190 which was child benefit cash, was forfeited.