A YOUNG man who has become a third-strike class A drug dealer at just 20 is starting a long custodial sentence.

Khalim Reynolds from Newport was sent to a young offender institution for more than five years.

He was caught with 20 wraps of crack cocaine in the city over the summer which were worth £370, Cardiff Crown Court was told.

Jason Howells, prosecuting, said Reynolds’ first class A drug trafficking conviction was for possession of heroin with intent to supply in 2018 when he was 15.

His second was for possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply in 2021 for which he received a suspended term in custody.

He was locked up earlier this year for being in breach of that sentence.

Reynolds, of Caerau Crescent, pleaded guilty to possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply on July 25.

He also has previous convictions for robbery, fraud, assault by beating and affray.

Judge Paul Hobson, who sentenced him to a suspended term two years ago, said: “That was a 16-month term which was suspended for a period of 18 months.

“That order was intended to give you an opportunity to address the issues of which I was told about in the probation report.

“However, sadly, that order has been a complete failure.

“You breached the order by failing to attend appointments, you then failed to attend the breach proceedings themselves and then, even more seriously, you committed the offences which I'm dealing with in July of this year.”

The minimum sentence for a third strike class A dealer is seven years.

The judge added: “The law requires me to impose a minimum sentence of seven years unless there are exceptional circumstances.

“Your barrister does not make the argument that exceptional circumstances exist here and I've also considered that question myself and I come to the same conclusion.

“It is right to say of course that you were very young at the time of your first qualifying conviction.

“But you've continued to persistently offend into your adulthood and I see no reason to depart from the minimum sentence provisions in your case.”

The sentence was reduced to five years and seven months in Reynolds’ case after he was given 20 per cent off for pleading guilty.