A FACTORY worker who was moonlighting as a drug dealer was stopped by the police in his car with nearly £1,500 worth of cannabis.

During his sentence, a court heard of father-to-be Samuel Carter’s tragic background and details of his own dad’s death in Spain.

The defendant’s father was killed in an accident after taking his 15-year-old son on holiday six years ago.

It was also told how Carter suffered horrific burns following a house fire in 2018.

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Prosecutor William Bebb said the defendant was arrested by police in Caerphilly in April 2020.

Carter, 21, of Oakfield Street, Llanbradach, was found with 140g of cannabis with a street value of £1,400 and a mobile phone implicating him in trafficking.

He pleaded guilty to possession of the class B drug with intent to supply.

Carter had no previous convictions.

Ed Mitchard, mitigating, said his factory worker client was an expectant father.

His lawyer said: “His partner is due to give birth to their first child in two weeks.

“He has a full-time job and is the sole breadwinner for them.”

Mr Mitchard told Cardiff Crown Court about Carter’s background: “In 2015 the defendant’s father took him and a friend on holiday to Spain when he was 15 or 16 and died in a fall there.

“In 2018, he suffered 37 per cent burns in a house fire.”

The judge, Recorder IWL Jones, told Carter: “Controlled drugs are a serious problem in our society as I have said repeatedly in courts throughout this area.

“They destroy lives and they destroy families and they have put you in the dock here today.”

Recorder Jones said he was prepared to spare the defendant immediate custody.

Carter was jailed for eight months, suspended for two years, and he must carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.

The court ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the defendant’s drugs and mobile phone and he must pay a victim surcharge of £149.