A TEENAGE drug dealer with “a shocking criminal record for someone so young” is behind bars for the first time after being caught with crack cocaine.

Joshua Seivwright, 18, gave himself up to police days after he fled from a house in the Pill area of Newport before they could arrest him.

William Bebb, prosecuting, said the defendant already had a conviction for trafficking class A drugs despite his tender years.

Seivwright, of Stow Hill, Newport, escaped from the kitchen of an address in Herbert Walk after officers had gone there in early August.

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He was discovered with 13 wraps of crack cocaine, which had a potential street value of £500, as well as an iPhone with messages advertising drugs for sale.

The defendant pleaded guilty to possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply.

Seivwright’s lasest conviction put him in breach of a suspended sentence.

That was for attacking a Newport Bus driver and causing £800 worth of damage to his vehicle earlier this year.

He committed these offences of assault by beating and criminal damage when he was aged 17.

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Cardiff Crown Court heard he also had convictions for violent disorder and other drugs offences.

Stuart John, representing Seivwright, said his client suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and asked the court to give him credit for his early guilty plea.

He added that the defendant was capable of rehabilitation and implored the court to give him a last chance by suspending the sentence.

The judge, Recorder Paul Hopkins QC, told Seivwright: “Frankly, you have a shocking antecedent record for someone so young.”

He said his situation was aggravated by his previous convictions and added only a custodial sentence was appropriate in this case.

Seivwright was sent to a young offender institution for a total of 33 months.

He will serve half that sentence before being released.

The defendant will also have to pay a victim surcharge.