A DRUG dealer has turned his life around following the birth of his baby daughter two years ago, his barrister told a court.

Steve Jones was caught with 230g of amphetamine worth £2,300 when police stopped his car near Tredegar House in Newport in 2019, prosecutor Meirion Davies said.

But the defendant’s barrister Scott Bowen said his client no longer deals or touches drugs since becoming the father of a two-year-old girl.

And it took almost exactly 24 months for the case to come to Cardiff Crown Court following his arrest with another man.

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Mr Davies said the pair were travelling in a Seat Leon when they were pulled over in Newport.

The other man, a passenger in the car, was also charged but has since gone on the run after failing to turn up in the magistrates’ court.

Jones, 43, of Cefn Llwynau Street, Penybryn, Caerphilly, pleaded guilty to possessing amphetamine with intent to supply.

He had no previous convictions for drug-related offences.

Mr Bowen, representing Jones, said in mitigation: “The defendant was last before the courts 17 years ago and we are now coming up to the second anniversary of the commission of this offence.

“At the time he was using amphetamine and was driven by that addiction to sell drugs.

“There has been genuine remorse shown in the pre-sentence report about the risks he put himself and the public in.”

Mr Bowen added: “The birth of his two-year-old daughter has been a wake-up call for this gentleman.

“He no longer uses amphetamine and has moved himself away from those involved in drugs.

“He’s a family man and the sole carer for his daughter. His wife works as a recruitment consultant.”

The judge, Recorder Bilal Siddique, told Jones he was capable of being rehabilitated and been assessed as posing a “low risk of reoffending”.

He was jailed for six months, suspended for 18 months, ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and pay a victim surcharge.