A former Michelin star restaurant chef who turned to drug dealing has made a fruitless plea to a judge to be freed for a few days to visit his sister in a secure psychiatric hospital before he spends a long period behind bars.

Sergii Houghton 33, pleaded guilty at Gloucester Crown Court yesterday to possessing cocaine and heroin with intent to supply on March 21st this year and again on June 9.

He asked for bail pending sentence to see his sister in hospital after an incident in which she suffered multiple fractures.

David Scutt, defending, said: "Houghton has been remanded in custody since then and appreciates that he is going to get a substantial prison sentence.

"But he is requesting a few days out on bail to sort out his affairs and to see his sister, who has been Sectioned, before he spends the next few years in prison."

His sister was sectioned by the mental health authorities after the incident earlier this year and is still being detained in hospital.

Houghton told the judge that he had run a Michelin stared restaurant for 14 years and had lost his job as a chef due to his seven-year drug addiction.

He added that his mother had paid for his drug rehabilitation but had subsequently slipped off the wagon and returned to his old drug-dealing ways.

Prosecutor George Threlfall argued that Houghton was likely to abscond if he were to be granted bail and added: "He has Ukrainian relatives and instead of serving a long prison sentence in this county he could abscond abroad."

Mr Scutt responded: "The only place Houghton wants to be is to be in the company of his sister. All he is asking for is a few days of mercy before he goes away as she would be unable to see him in prison."

Judge Michael Cullum said to Houghton: "I appreciate that these are desperate times and that you want to see your elder sister, especially as these drug offences occurred after she had been sectioned.

"You will be going to prison when you are sentenced and it would be irresponsible of me to grant bail at this stage.

"The bail application was well put and convincing, but in the circumstances, I have no choice but to reject your proposal and remand you back into custody."

The judge vacated the trial date in January and said that Houghton would be sentenced next week.