A NEWPORT crack cocaine dealer who was caught after a police tip-off has been jailed for more than three years.

Officers raided the flat Garth Morgan shared with his uncle where they found drugs with a street value of up to £4,400.

Prosecutor Bethan Evans told Newport Crown Court how the bust in the Pill area of the city unearthed 43 grams of crack cocaine and 10 grams of cocaine.

Morgan, aged 25, of Raglan Court, pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply, the offences committed on December 15.

The court heard how the defendant was sentenced to 32 months in a young offender institution in 2013 for possessing crack cocaine with intent to supply.

Miss Evans said Morgan had 16 previous convictions for 29 offences, which included violence and public order.

She told Judge Daniel Williams how cash, an iPhone and electric scales were also seized during the raid last month.

Ben Waters, representing Morgan, said his client had been caring for his uncle who had suffered a brain haemorrhage.

His barrister told the court how the defendant had been chased for debts by bailiffs and was in need of money after being unable to claim for benefits because he did not have a bank account.

Mr Waters added that the defendant was a drug user who wanted “to knock his behaviour on the head.”

He said the best mitigation he could put forward were the early guilty pleas.

Judge Williams told Morgan: “These offences are so serious that only an immediate term of custody can be justified.”

He said that the defendant’s previous conviction for possessing a class A drug with intent to supply was an “aggravating factor”.

Morgan was jailed for a total of three years and four months and was told he would serve half that time in prison before being released on licence.

He will also have to pay a victim surcharge.

No application under the Proceeds of Crime Act was made.

Outside the court, police constable Dan Fletcher, of Newport West Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “This sentence reflects our dedication to fighting organised crime. “This type of crime will not be tolerated and those involved can expect to be dealt with accordingly.

“Officers are continually proactively patrolling our communities in order to combat incidents of this nature.

“This sentence came as a result of community intelligence – I would ask that anyone who has information on drug dealing in their area contact us.”