A DAD-OF-THREE who admitted offering to supply a vast array of illegal drugs has been sent to prison.

Police arrested Adam Lewis at his flat in March, finding "incriminating" evidence of drug dealing on his mobile phone.

They also found a weighing scales, cash and drugs – a small amount of cannabis and around 400 tablets of Alprazolam, also known as Xanax.

MORE NEWS:

At Newport Crown Court on Thursday, prosecution barrister Eugene Egan said Lewis was "offering drugs for sale over a significant period".

Police found messages in which Lewis, 32, offered drug users 'skunk' and 'cheese' for sale, both terms referring to strong cannabis.

They also found evidence Lewis had offered to supply MDMA (also known as Ecstasy when in tablet form), as well as amphetamine and Valium.

Thomas Stanway, defending, said his client was a user of cannabis and other drugs, and when this use escalated "he sought to sell drugs to fund that habit".

He described the defendant as a "class-B dealer" who on one occasion offered to supply the class-A drug MDMA "perhaps on bravado".

Mr Stanway argued there was no evidence Lewis went through with supplying MDMA.

He said Lewis, who is father to three young children and provides support to his mother, had received a "wake-up call" as a result of his arrest.

The judge, Recorder Duncan Bould, said Lewis, of Grove Avenue, Llanfoist, Monmouthshire, was arguably running a "drug shop".

"There's no doubt you were offering to supply drugs on a commercial basis," he told the defendant, adding that Lewis decided to put his children's "futures at risk" by engaging in the supply of illegal drugs.

He sentenced Lewis to a total of 24 months in prison and approved an application under the Proceeds of Crime Act.