A teenage heroin dealer acted nervously when police stopped a car in St Albans, a court heard.

Jordan Ricketts, 19, was in the back seat of a Seat Ibiza that had been pulled over by uniformed officers in Hatfield Road.

He had rolled up his pullover to hide a blue transparent bag with drug wraps inside, St Albans Crown Court was told.

Prosecutor Wayne Cleaver said: “The defendant was behaving nervously and was asked if he had anything on him.

“An eagle-eyed officer noticed that his jumper was rolled up. There he found the blue transparent bag that was the size of a ping pong ball.”

When he was asked what was in the bag, Ricketts replied: “It is 17 wraps of heroin.”

Ricketts, of Moor View, Watford, pleaded guilty to possessing 17 wraps of heroin with intent to supply on 14 October last year. He had two previous convictions - one for possessing heroin and another for robbery.

Philip Sutton, defending, said he was selling to known purchasers and was acting under pressure and the direction of others. He said he was only 19 and had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

Mr Sutton asked Judge Stephen Warner to pass a suspended sentence.

But Judge Stephen Warner sentenced him to 12 months’ detention, saying: “You played a willing part in the distribution network which enables heroin to be in circulation. The abuse of these sorts of drugs blights people’s lives.”