THE son of a prison officer was sentenced to 12 months in a young offenders' institution at court yesterday for supplying drugs in a Cardiff nightclub.

Scott Beavan, aged 19, an auto technician employed by a welding company in Chepstow, was spotted acting suspiciously by security staff in the Vision 2K Club, Queen Street, Cardiff.

He agreed to be searched and staff found 43 Ecstasy tablets of 25 per cent purity in a plastic bag on him, said prosecutor Ray Lewis.

Beavan, of Ladyhill Close, Usk, admitted two charges at Cardiff crown court of supplying Ecstasy and one of possessing the drug with intent to supply.

Judge Peter Jacobs warned: "Taken by the wrong persons and in the wrong doses, people can die. There is convincing evidence, ignored by young people, that brain damage can ensue."

Mr Lewis said that on the night of October 12 security staff at the club became concerned about Beavan's suspicious behaviour.

After the drugs were discovered he was arrested and told the police: "I only bought 70 altogether for £2.25 each. I was only selling them for a fiver."

He had on him £140 in cash, which the court ordered to be confiscated. He said he and friends bought the drug in bulk because it was cheaper. He admitted having the contact and actually acquiring them, and added that he knew it was an illegal, controlled, Class A drug.

Mr Lewis said they sold at up to £10 each and were of 25 per cent purity. Altogether, he said, Beavan supplied 27 tablets to two people.

Beverley Cripps, defending, said: "This is an absolute tragedy for Beavan, who will lose his character. He was not supplying members of the public. He only supplied people he knew who had an Ecstasy habit. Something like this will never happen again."

Any period in custody, she said, would punish Beavan and serve as a deterrent to others. "He and his friends had not considered the gravity of what they were doing."

The serious aspect of the case, said the judge, was that the drug would have been sold to friends for a small profit. The result was that others might have been persuaded to take the drug, he said.