A NEWPORT heroin dealer has been jailed after he was caught red-handed selling to a group of drug addicts in broad daylight.

Max Maxamed met five users in Newport’s Llanwern Street just before 5pm on Monday, June 3, prosecutor Jeffrey Jones said.

He told Cardiff Crown Court: “Two plain-clothed officers were in the Maindee area and they saw five people who were drug users or addicts of a class A-type of appearance.

“They saw one of them anxiously on the phone and they thought he was waiting for a drug deal.”

Mr Jones said their suspicions were soon confirmed when Maxamed turned up and sold what was believed to be heroin to him.

South Wales Argus:

(Max Maxamed)

The defendant threw away a mobile and a Kinder egg when confronted and tried to dismantle another phone.

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Police recovered 11 wraps of heroin worth £150 and one of cocaine valued at £10.

Mr Jones said the Somali-born Maxamed had no previous convictions.

The defendant, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to possessing heroin with intent to supply and possessing cocaine.

Ben Waters, mitigating, said of his client: “He hails from the London area and came to live in Newport as he knows a few people there.

“This young defendant got himself involved in some debt.”

Mr Waters added that Maxamed left London to “distance himself” from the money he owed and was “sofa surfing and living rough in Newport”.

His barrister told the court: “He tested positive for cocaine at the police station. He was looking to make some money by dealing drugs for someone else.

“He hadn’t been doing it for very long and was caught red-handed by Gwent Police and has fully accepted his culpability.”

Mr Waters told the court that the defendant was “not an unintelligent man” and had worked with people who have autism.

The Recorder of Cardiff, Judge Eleri Rees, told Maxamed that he had been involved in “an evil trade which brings so much misery”.

She told him that a custodial sentence was inevitable and jailed him for 30 months.

Speaking after the case, Gwent Police Constable Gareth Mcsherry, the officer in the case, said: “This sentence demonstrates how seriously the police and court system view the sale of class A drugs in Gwent communities.

"Any person with information about the sale of drugs in their area is encouraged to contact the police via 101 or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”