TWO drug dealers faced a judge at the Isle of Wight Crown Court on Thursday - and one was sent to jail.

Joseph Medway, 26, was jailed for 30 months after admitting supply of cocaine and cannabis.

His accomplice, Christopher Gilbert, 33, admitted the same charges but it was found he was more a courier or provider of transport to Medway, and was given a suspended jail term.

The offences date to January 14, 2019, when the pair were stopped after disembarking from the Red Funnel car ferry in East Cowes, said Paul Fairley, prosecuting.

Police searched their Mercedes and found 83.1g of cocaine with a street value of £8,400, plus £340 worth of cannabis.

Proof of supply came in a list of names and messages on mobile phones.

Both had previous convictions for supplying cannabis.

Gilbert, of Station Avenue, Sandown, was represented in court by Audrey Archer.

She said he had since taken considerable steps to turn over a new leaf and change his lifestyle.

She said he was "somewhat naive and followed what others do" and had been used by Medway as a courier for transport to the Midlands to buy the drugs to bring back to the Island.

Louis Maskell, for Medway, said it wasn't drugs on a County lines scale and Medway was 22 at the time, was now 26 and had knuckled down and was working and providing for himself.

Judge James Bromige said the court delay of nearly four years to bring the case to completion hadn't been explained.

He said an expert who studied the case concluded that Gilbert was indeed a courier for Medway.

He said Gilbert had strong personal mitigation and handed him a 17-month custodial sentence, suspended for two years. He must complete 220 hours of unpaid work.

Medway, of John Street, Ryde, was jailed for 30 months, for "bringing drugs to the Island and dealing for profit".