A COCAINE dealer has been jailed for seven-and-half-years after a police raid found almost half a kilo of the drug in a Caribbean takeaway.

Raymar Simms of Cottesmore Road, Littlemore, was sentenced after a jury of eight men and four women found him guilty of possessing a Class A drug (cocaine) with intent to supply, on Thursday.

The jury at Oxford Crown Court cleared him of a charge of intending to supply heroin. Simms admitted two separate charges of possession of heroin and cannabis.

Judge Ian Pringle said that at just before 2pm on November 18 last year, a police warrant was executed at Simms' business address in Garsington Road, Oxford.

He said officers found a "significant amount of drugs" in the kitchen of the Caribbean takeaway.

Judge Pringle said: "There was just under half a kilogram of cocaine of between 21 to 26 per cent purity, that could have been cut further to increase profit."

He said that, if sold, it would have been worth up to £28,000.

Judge Pringle said: "You must understand that offences of this nature are treated extremely seriously by these courts.

"We see it in these courts on a daily basis. I believe your role was somewhere between leading and significant."

Sgt James Blackmore, who heads a team charged to tackle drug dealing in Oxford, said eight officers were involved in the raid last year.

He said Simms's sentencing was a "true reflection of how serious the police take drug dealing" in Oxford.

Simms was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years on count one of possessing with intent to supply cocaine. He was sentenced for three months to run concurrently for possession of heroin as well as one month to run concurrently for possession of cannabis.

Pc Ben Jones said: "This is a fantastic result. The illegal supply of drugs can have a devastating impact on communities and I am pleased that Simms has been convicted and sentenced for this crime."