A young Gloucester dad became a drug-dealer to raise money to pay for a legal battle to get access to his five-year-old daughter, a court heard.

David Lampitt, 31, of Barton Street narrowly avoided a prison sentence at Gloucester Crown Court.

Lampitt was convicted of possessing cannabis with intent to supply when he appeared before Cheltenham magistrates on September 6, this year

On Friday, he appeared before Recorder James Watson QC for sentence and received 20 weeks custody but the term was suspended for 12 months and he was ordered to do 60 hours of unpaid work.

Prosecuting barrister Charles Thomas said: "The defendant was arrested by police in Tewkesbury and found to have eight wraps of cannabis on him with a street value of £80 and £60 in cash.

His mobile phone was seized and it contained text messages to around ten people regarding the supply of cannabis, the court was told.

"It was a relatively small group of named people who the defendant knew and supplied," said Mr Thomas.

The defendant played a "significant role" in street-dealing and had no previous convictions, he added

Defending barrister Tony Bignall said: "My client has a problem with access to his daughter.

"The family courts have come down on his side but his estranged partner is not complying.

"He was selling cannabis to generate funds in order to pay for legal representation to get access to see his daughter."