Ian ClarkeTwo men arrested as part of a major operation to catch heroin dealers in Dereham were spared jail yesterday after a judge said their cases were 'exceptional.Ian Clarke

Two men arrested as part of a major operation to catch heroin dealers in Dereham were spared jail yesterday after a judge said their cases were 'exceptional.'

Scott Waine, 28, and Steven Kane, 50, were among nine people caught last year and each had sold one wrap of heroin to an undercover police officer posing as a user.

On Monday six men and a woman were sent to prison for a total of 25 years after a judge heard they had sold drugs to people in homes, pubs, the Queen Mother's Garden, the neighbouring old library, the Recreation Ground and dark alleyways away from CCTV cameras.

Waine and Kane - who both admitted one offence of being concerned in the supply of heroin - appeared before Norwich Crown Court and were given community orders.

Recorder Christopher Makey said the two were in a 'different position' to the seven jailed on Monday and took the 'exceptional' course of not jailing them.

Waine, of St Withburga Lane, Dereham, will have a drug rehabilitation requirement for six months, a two-year supervision order, 150 hours unpaid work and a curfew order.

Kane, of Greenwood Drive, Scarning, will have to do 200 hours' unpaid work and a two-year supervision order.

Michael Clare, representing Waine, said he was not 'hawking drugs around Norfolk' and thought he had just been supplying a fellow addict.

Katrina Jamieson, for Kane, said he had only started taking heroin last year and had bipolar disorder, which caused a 'lapse of judgement' leading to him selling the drugs.