A Hennock tree surgeon who protected his cocaine dealing business with an arsenal of weapons including a revolver and a shotgun has been jailed for seven and a half years.

Craig Lee had the firearms, two knuckledusters, and a police issue extendable baton to defend his £7,000 stock of illegal drugs from potential robbers.

He fell foul of Britain’s strict anti-gun laws because the 0.22 Smith and Wesson was a prohibited weapon and he was banned from owning any firearm because of previous convictions for drugs and violence.

Lee turned to cocaine dealing to pay for his own use of the drug but was found with £4,000 cash and a dealer’s list showing that clients owed him thousands of pounds.

Police carried out simultaneous raids at Lee’s home in Hennock and his parents’ farm at Liverton in August last year and found the weapons, drugs and cash.

The pistol was in a supermarket bag in a bedroom at his home where it was insecure and accessible by his two young children, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Lee, aged 27, of Teign Village, Hennock, and Holbrook Farm, Liverton, admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply; possession of a 0.22 Smith and Wesson pistol and ammunition, and possession a shotgun and ammunition without a licence and while banned from owning any firearm.

He was jailed for a total of seven years and six months by Judge David Evans.

He told him: ‘You had these weapons to hand at both locations to deal with any trouble that your drug dealing activities might give rise to.

‘It is clear this was a business which was making a considerable sum of money even if it did not make you a rich man. You were a mid-level drug supplier.

‘When you acquired the shotgun and pistol you knew exactly the risk you were running. it is an aggravating feature that there were children at the house when the pistol was there, readily at hand.

‘You put very dangerous firearms within reach of small children.’

Mr Richard Crabb, prosecuting, said Lee was arrested in a barn at the farm in Liverton where he worked on second hand cars and ran a tree surgery business.

He had an unloaded shotgun propped up against a wall and ammunition for it nearby. He also had a knuckleduster at the barn and a baton in his car.

The £7,000 drugs were found at his home, mostly in three golf ball-sized wraps, along with £4,000 cash, the Smith and Wesson, ammunition in a loaded magazine, a knuckleduster, and the dealers’ list.

The gun was unloaded but the magazine was found in the same plastic supermarket bag. It was a prohibited weapon because its barrel was less than 30 centimetres long.

Mr William Parkhill, defending, said Lee was drawn into dealing by his own addiction. He bought in bulk, used some for himself and sold the rest to pay for his supply.

He said Lee was not a sophisticated drug dealer and was a hardworking man who ran his own businesses from his parents’ farm.

He said: ‘He is a relatively young man living a normal life working at the family farm. He was not a faceless urban drug dealer who was involved with guns. He was a young man who did something incredibly stupid and is now paying a harsh price.’