A BARBER shop boss who admitted supplying cocaine to a friend on a night out has been spared jail.

Simon Taw, 34, of Larch Grove, Newport, had dozens of messages relating to drugs on his phone, a court heard yesterday [September 5].

He also shared eight ounces of cannabis with friends as he battled an “entrenched drug habit” last year, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

The dad of one admitted possessing 2.27 grams of cocaine, supplying cocaine and being concerned with the supply of cannabis.

But Judge David Wynn Morgan gave him a suspended one-year jail term after hearing he was a "hard-working family man" who had given the class A drug to his pal "as a present" during an evening out.

Judge Morgan blamed Taw for hiding the fact he used cocaine to his wife and gave him 250 hours community service.

He told him: "It is bad enough you used cannabis but the fact you used cocaine unbeknown to your wife is very worrying indeed."

The court heard Taw owned a barber shop in Newport, which employed two people, and also looked at opening a fitness centre in Griffin Street in the city.

He was found to have the cocaine in four bags during a night out in Market Street on December 15 last year.

But defence barrister, Andrew Morse, said the class A drug was "for his own use" and he had supplied to a friend as a present.

Mr Morse added that only 34 out of around 800 messages and texts found on his mobile related to drugs and stressed he had pleaded guilty to the three offences at the earliest opportunity.

The prison sentences were suspended for two years with 250 hours unpaid work.

He was also given a three-month curfew forcing him to stay at home between 8pm and 6am.