A MAN who police thought was pulled to the side of the road for car difficulties turned out to be supplying cocaine, a court has heard.

Police were on patrol around 11am on March 26 on Havoc Road, Dumbarton, when they saw the vehicle with two men in it.

As they turned, the men exited and lifted the bonnet, suggesting a break down. But when officers stopped, they could smell cannabis and one of the men discarded something under the vehicle.

The men were detained for a drugs search and in the vehicle were 14 wraps of white powder.

Ryan Heaney, 26, of Queen Elizabeth Gardens in Glasgow, was taken to a police office and the car was searched at a local garage where mobile phones were recovered with a tip list and messages on the supply of drugs.

Heaney later pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine on March 26 and to supplying cocaine between March 25 and 26 in Dumbarton.

Dumbarton Sheriff Court heard last week that the drugs would be worth about £560 on the street.

Heaney's defence solicitor Brian McGuire said his client was a first offender and had left school with no qualifications and had a good work record until a year ago.

He said: "His life has simply come apart, related to this cocaine addiction which he developed and escalated. He has debt outstanding related to cocaine use. This matter related to some pressure put upon him.

"He was looking to feed his addiction and had run up some debts to do with that and this was involved in paying some of the debt he had."

Mr McGuire said Heaney had started a programme to address his addiction a week earlier and appealed for time to pursue that.

Sheriff William Gallacher said he had commented many times in court on the "horrendous" impact of drugs on communities.

He said: "You were involved in the process of supply for financial benefit - that's a serious matter. The only way I see an alternative [to prison] is by you giving something back."

Sentence was deferred until June 30 for supplementary social work reports and for Heaney to continue with the drugs programme.

Sheriff Gallacher added: "It's up to you to do what you're doing at the moment."