A drug dealer who protected his stash of cocaine with guns and knuckledusters has been stripped of his ill-gotten gains under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Craig Lee, of Teign Village, Hennock, and Holbrook Farm, Liverton, was jailed for seven and a half years at Exeter Crown Court in March and has now been ordered to repay £2,306.93 by a judge.

A short hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act ended with an agreed settlement in which his benefit from crime was assessed as £8,831.13 and his available assets were £2,306.93.

The assets, which consisted of seized cash and the sale of a vehicle, are already in the hands of the police and will be transferred immediately.

Judge Timothy Rose ordered Lee to repay the money and set a nominal period of a week in prison in default.

In March, Lee, aged 27 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.

The judge in that case how Lee used his work as a tree surgeon as cover for drug dealing. He had weapons at his home, his workshop, and in his car.

He 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 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.

Mr William Parkhill, defending, told the earlier hearing that 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 hard working 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."