A Brighouse man who threw a sock containing bags of cocaine into the rubble of a damaged shop following a car crash has avoided an immediate jail sentence.

Dennis Roose, 33, was a passenger in a Suzuki Vitara being driven by his brother Andrew when police officers tried to stop the vehicle in Halifax last December.

When 22-year-old Andrew Roose drove off in a bid to escape he lost control of the car at the junction of Hanson Lane and Cavendish Street and smashed into the front of a grocery store.

Prosecutor Heather Gilmore told Bradford Crown Court today that the shop was closed at the time, but the force of the collision caused damage estimated at £10,000.

Another car which had been parked nearby also suffered damage put at £2,000.

As police officers tried to arrest Andrew Roose a member of the public spotted his brother removing items from the car and throwing something into the rubble of the damaged building.

Miss Gilmore said an officer searched the rubble and found a sock which had six clear plastic bags containing cocaine inside it.

The brothers were both taken to hospital after being injured in the collision and an officer later recovered 17 further bags of cocaine after Andrew Roose tried to dump them in a laundry basket.

A wrap of crack cocaine
A wrap of crack cocaine

Miss Gilmore said in total officers seized 25 bags of cocaine with a street value of about £500.

Andrew Roose, of Moor End Road, Pellon, Halifax, was jailed for 16 months after he admitted possessing the Class A drugs with intent to supply them.

His brother Dennis, of South Street, Brighouse, admitted a separate charge of doing an act tending or intended to pervert the course of justice in relation to throwing the drugs into the rubble.

He was sentenced to seven months in prison, but Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC said that could be suspended for 12 months.

Barrister Rebecca Young, for Andrew Roose, highlighted the fact that he had limited previous convictions and she described him as a young, immature and naive man who had learned his lesson.

Judge Durham Hall said the prison sentence couldn’t be suspended in his case despite submissions that Roose had committed the offence due to pressure and threats.

He said Roose’s brother Dennis had been motivated by family loyalty when he tried to discard some of the drugs from the car.