A judge who told a drug dealer caught peddling heroin and crack in a pub 'custody is inevitable' has put off passing sentence to see if he is suitable for rehabilitation.

But Kyle Brace, who was also stopped with more heroin and crack as he travelled on a bus, has been told he may still be facing a lengthy jail term.

Judge Tim Mousley QC, sitting at Swindon Crown Court, told the 20-year-old that it was right he should have all the options before him prior to passing sentence.

Earlier Hannah Squire, prosecuting, had told the court that Brace was caught by police twice within a few weeks early last year.

She said police were first called to the Wetherspoon's pub in Chippenham on Tuesday, January 14, after someone spotted drug dealing taking place.

When they arrived they searched Brace, who was with another man, and found he had eight wraps of heroin and crack on him, with another six in a bag he had dropped.

His phone was found to have received 1,181 incoming calls of less than a minute and 300 texts: indicative of a drug dealer receiving orders from users.

He was then arrested on a bus in Chippenham on Thursday, February 6, for other matters and again found with 10 wraps of drugs.

When he was questioned about the first matter he said he had gone to the pub to buy drugs, not sell, and refused to answer questions the second time.

Brace, of Athelston Place, Malmesbury, initially pleaded not guilty to four counts of possession of class A drugs with intent to supply.

But before a jury could be sworn in on the first day of a trial he changed his plea to admit what he had done.

Tristan Harwood, defending, said his client was, 'a young a fairly naive man' who had struggled at school with quite profound dyslexia.

He said he then started hanging around with the wrong crown and began smoking cannabis before moving on to harder drugs.

Since he had been inside on remand he said he had got off drugs, taken a number of courses and wants to start an apprenticeship in mechanics when he is freed.

He said he got involved in dealing drugs after running up a debt to his dealer and was at the bottom of the chain.

When he adjourned the case for reports by probation in December the judge said: "The only issue they need to address is length: custody is inevitable."

After reading it he said he should have the option to impose a drug rehabilitation requirement and adjourned the case to Friday, January 9, with him in custody.

But he said: "I am only going to consider it. I am not going to say now that is definitely what is going to happen.

"You are 20 now, 19 at the time. You were then addicted to class A drugs, heroin I think, and taking drugs since you were 14 or 15.

"Here you were dealing at Wetherspoons and carrying drugs as you travelled on a bus in Chippenham and all being done for financial gain so you can pay your debts.

"You have been in custody now since August. I am told by the probation officer who interviewed you that you are not now taking drugs. I am told you have certain mental health issues.

"This is always a very serious offence. The bracket that this falls in starts at about four and a half years, that would be if you pleaded not guilty with a range of three and a half to seven years. That would be for an adult offender."