A drug-dealing dad who has 22 children with 11 women has avoided prison so he can care for his baby son.
Raymond Hull, 58, was sentenced to 18 months in jail after he was caught with £350 worth of cannabis.
But a judge suspended the sentence after learning that he needed to help his 26-year-old girlfriend, Emma McNeil, look after their seven-month-old baby, Barry.
Hull, of Springkell, Cumbria, has been claiming benefits for 10 years, insisting that he cannot work because he has a bad back caused by 'running around' after his children.
He was arrested after police raided his home in May and found cannabis and £1,000 in his pockets - which he claimed were the proceeds from the sale of a camper van.
Officers also discovered a text message on his mobile telephone telling a customer that there would be a delay in supplying drugs due to the birth of another child.
It read: "Later on pal, Emma's having the baby."
After his court appearance, he said: "I just love kids. I don't regret anything, even though I don't speak to them all. Some of them don't even know I'm their dad.
"I've never had to chase after women. I'm easy going, they're always chasing me. I don't know what it is about me, but I'm never short of offers.
"It's just my luck that every time I have a one-night stand, the girl ends up getting pregnant.
"I've got five kids with one woman; three with another; three with another; and three with another.
"I've got two kids with one woman and little Barry with Emma. The others were just one each with different women.
"I don't believe in abortion and none of them have ever asked for one. It's not up to me it's up to the lasses."
At Carlisle Crown Court, the father admitted using cannabis to help with a breathing disorder, but claimed that he only sold it to friends to cover costs.
But Judge Paul Batty QC dismissed Hull's claims as a 'cock and bull story' and sentenced him to 18 months in prison for drug dealing.
However, he suspended the term 'with reluctance' for two years after hearing that Hull needed to care for his youngest child and allow his girlfriend to return to work at a bakery.
The judge said: "It seems that as well as being a drug dealer he is thoroughly dishonest." Hull had 31 previous convictions spread over 40 years, but none was for drug dealing.
The judge also put Hull under a curfew to keep him indoors from 6pm to 6am every night for the next six months, and made him pay £200, which will be taken out of his benefits. The £1,000 found in his pockets was confiscated and will go to combating drug abuse in Cumbria.