BODY-BUILDING DRUG DEALER is freed.

THIS is the steroid loving thug who was part of a dissident republican plot to flood north Antrim with drugs.

Ciaran 'Del Boy' McIlwaine, 24, was caught red-handed with [pounds sterling]2,100 worth of cannabis and [pounds sterling]865 of dirty money during a police search of his parents' home at Beech Drive, Ballymena.

Cops also found two machetes and a sword that belonged to the heavily tattooed body-builder, whose boasts on the internet about injecting steroids have led to him being nicknamed 'Water Muscles'.

McIlwaine was sentenced to two years in prison suspended for two years when he appeared at Antrim Crown Court last week.

Amazingly after walking free from the dock he had the cheek to put a mocking message on his Facebook page.

"Two years suspended for two years. Oh deary, deary me, I'd better be a good boy now," wrote the bully boy.

Minutes earlier, McIlwaine had pleaded guilty to possessing a Class B drug and possession with intent to supply.

This was the latest in a long line of court appearances by the self-confessed drug dealer and alcoholic.

In 2006, the dad-of-two was given a suspended sentence for battering a Protestant man in a sectarian assault.

The same year he was jailed for three-and-a-half years after being snared in a dissident republican bomb-making factory in west Belfast.

Police who raided the property caught McIlwaine and three others with parts that could have formed a coffee jar bomb.

After getting out of prison in 2008, the idiot started injecting steroids and hanging around with a drugs gang based in Ballymena's Dunclug estate.

The gang, which is headed by a convicted woman beater, has strong ties to the Real IRA.

McIlwaine acted as one of its enforcers and sold cannabis to kids.

Modelling himself on a movie gangster, the dumb thug even went to the extreme of walking around Dunclug armed with a crossbow.

In June 2009, he got involved in a fist fight with a local which resulted in police searching his parents' home.

Officers discovered seven bags of cannabis worth [pounds sterling]2,100 hidden in a lunch box, [pounds sterling]865 of drugs money stuffed inside a jar, two machetes and a sword.

Cowardly McIlwaine told police he was forced to hold the items for a "dangerous guy from Ballymena" whom he owed [pounds sterling]650. He also said that he was in danger of being "whacked".

However, his claims were rubbished by detectives who found no evidence of him being under threat.

A lawyer for McIlwaine told the court that his client comes from a troubled background and has attempted suicide twice in recent years.

Severe bouts of depression have also led to him spending time in Holywell psychiatric hospital.

"Mr McIlwaine has had a long battle with alcohol," said the lawyer. "He realises that staying in the present circumstances is not going to help him slay his demons or throw off the shackles of alcohol addiction."

The lawyer then revealed McIlwaine has had a visa granted to go to Australia and work for a year.

He said: "My client is going there to get money so he can get married."

But the plan failed to impress Judge Philpott, who asked whether Australian police know about his explosives conviction.

She said: "They're prepared to let him in? I'm not sure the Australians will thank us."

Turning to McIlwaine, the judge added: "You were not doing this to get drugs to feed a habit, you are someone who was assisting in order to get paid."

"Luckily for you it was Class B."

CAPTION: COURT APPEARANCE: Ciaran McIIwaine was caught with [pounds sterling]2,100 worth of cannabisDUMB CRIMINAL: Ciaran 'Del Boy' McIIwaine poses with a crossbow, (centre) the heavily tattooed 'muscle man' boasts of injecting steroids online and (right) flaunting his bulked up body

CAPTION: Ciaran Barnes