A DRUG dealer caught with £4,500 worth of cocaine and armed with flick knife and a knuckleduster has been given a suspended custodial sentence.

Iestyn Taylor, 20, was carrying 65 wraps of cocaine on Annesley Road in Newport after he was pulled off a Sur-Ron electric bike by police.

Brave members of the public went to help the officer as the defendant resisted arrest and they were commended for their courage at Cardiff Crown Court.

The defendant, of Ramsey Walk, Newport pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply.

He also admitted two counts of possession of an offensive weapon and riding the e-bike without a licence and without insurance.

MORE NEWS: Teenage driver caught by police after high-speed chase through city streets

Taylor had no previous convictions.

Darren Bishop representing him said: “The defendant was paying off a drug debt he had accumulated due to his own addiction to cocaine.

“He had been using cocaine for 18 months and built up a drug debt of £1,000.

“The defendant was pressured into selling directly to users on the street.”

The court heard that Taylor had been spending £100 on cocaine some weekends.

The judge, Recorder Ben Blakemore, told the defendant, who had spent over a month in custody following his arrest: “The members of the public who assisted the police officer in detaining you are to be commended.”

He added: “Drugs destroy people's lives, creating misery throughout society.

“You had an awareness of the scale of the operation you were involved in.

“Your offending is aggravated by the presence of the weapons you were carrying.

“Two offensive weapons clearly carried because of the danger and risk that you considered when you were engaging in the trade of drug supply.”

Recorder Blakemore said he was going to give Taylor a chance at being rehabilitated in the community after a probation report warned the defendant might become “hardened” after serving a custodial sentence.

He was sentenced to a two-year term in a young offender institution that was suspended for two years.

The defendant must carry out 300 hours of unpaid work and was made the subject of a 12-month drug rehabilitation requirement.

Taylor was banned from driving for 12 months.