A FORMER bank worker and father turned to drug dealing to support his young family after he lost his job during the Covid outbreak.

Daniel Lloyd was caught red-handed with bags of cannabis when he was riding a motorbike through Newport, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

Gareth James, prosecuting, said: “This offence goes back to October 1, 2020.

“At just past midday on that date, police officers saw a motorbike that was connected to drug dealing

“They decided to follow it and the motorbike came to a stop.

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“The officers pulled up alongside and the defendant was detained.

“He was searched and recovered from him was a freezer bag which contained 16 individual snap sealed bags of cannabis.

“They were 1g deals valued at £10 each.”

Police also seized a Nokia mobile phone which contained drug-related messages including one with a reference for a larger quantity than the “street deals” he was caught with.

Mr James added how other messages read: “Any weed bro? and “What have you got in bro?”

Lloyd, 28, of Welland Crescent, Bettws, Newport, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply.

He was a man or previous good character with no convictions recorded against him.

Gareth Williams, mitigating, said of his client: “He’s not scared of hard work and providing for his family, he has two sons.”

Lloyd wants to do a forklift driving course and has previously worked for Lloyds Bank online, as a manager of a vape store and for office furniture manufacturer Bisley.

Mr Williams added: “The defendant is a conscientious father and he made a bad decision in 2020 and has learned from his mistakes – he no longer smokes cannabis.

“This offence was out of character and it has been hanging over him since October 2020.

“There was no getting away from this and he was caught with the bags on his person, one wonders, he could have been charged much sooner.”

Judge Neil Bidder QC told Lloyd: “You lost your job and you decided, foolishly, to supply cannabis in order to get an income to support your family, your partner and two children.

“Your partner, quite rightly, was extremely upset to know that you were doing this stupid activity of supplying drugs.”

He said there was a “realistic prospect of rehabilitation” in the defendant’s case.

Lloyd was sentenced to a 12-month community order and must carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

He also has to pay £250 prosecution costs and a victim surcharge.