A DRUG dealer who was pepper sprayed after he assaulted the two police officers arresting him has been jailed.

Elliot Blake, 24, from Newport, was caught trafficking cannabis at an area known as The Triangles in Cwmbran, prosecutor Richard Ace said.

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The defendant attacked the police as he tried to escape their clutches last March.

Mr Ace told Cardiff Crown Court: “During the tussle, he grabbed a PAVA spray and was punched twice in the face by an officer.”

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Blake had thrown a rucksack to a friend who managed to flee before dropping the bag.

Inside, officers found hundreds of pounds worth of cannabis, weighing scales and a bong.

Mr Ace said they also recovered a small amount of cocaine as well as a mobile phone which the defendant had tried to throw away.

The phone contained messages from “numerous people asking about drugs and prices” going back three months.

Blake, of Hopefield, Newport, was also found carrying £160 in a wallet.

He pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis with intent to supply and possessing cocaine.

At an earlier court hearing before Newport Magistrates’ Court, Blake was ordered to pay £407 in fines, costs and a surcharge after admitted assaulting the police officers.

Claire Pickthall, mitigating, said: “It is 11 months since this offence and there has been no offending since then.

“He does regret what he did and wants to make a change.”

The judge, Recorder IWL Jones, told Blake: “Your behaviour at the time of your arrest was thoroughly disgraceful.”

He added: “Controlled drugs destroy lives and families and you had been dealing for a number of months.”

Blake was jailed for eight months and ordered to pay a victim surcharge after his release from prison.

The judge ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs and associated paraphernalia.