A YOUNG drug dealer who sold drugs to children – including his own teenage friends – has avoided jail.

Adrian Price, 20, from Abertillery, supplied hash to users aged 16 and 17, prosecutor Kathryn Lane said.

The defendant was trafficking cannabis for three years between 2018 and 2021 before police raided his home last February.

Officers found only small amounts of the class B drug, but a mobile phone they seized implicated him as a dealer.

Cardiff Crown Court heard how Price used Snapchat to advertise cannabis and there were messages relating to £180 to £190 deals.

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The defendant, of Bridge Street, Abertillery, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis.

He also admitted possession of cannabis.

Stephen Thomas, representing Price, said: “The defendant knows this is a serious offence.

“He was supplying contemporaries and known associates.

“There was nothing sophisticated about his offending.”

The judge, Recorder Lucy Crowther, told Price: “The police raided your home in February 2021 and it was obvious from your telephone that you had been involved in the supply of cannabis because they saw all the messages you were sending.

“It’s relatively small quantities you had that day but it’s obvious from the messages that you had been doing that for some time, but frankly it seems to your friends and people of about the same age.

“It is a serious offence. It’s an illegal drug and it’s not acceptable, no matter how you might have seen it at the time or how your friends may have seen it.

“While you might not have considered yourself a dealer of drugs you were and in terms of the guidelines, that amounts to street dealing and a significant role which indicates a start point of 12 months.”

She added: “It seems you started using cannabis at a very young age, it seems like something a lot of your friends did.

“You also have mental health issues which need careful management.

“Probation takes the view that you’re quite immature, but this is your first conviction.

“The fact that children were part of your supply is obviously very concerning.

“Frankly, you were little more than a child yourself.”

The judge told him she believed he could be rehabilitated and sent him to a young offender institution for six months, suspended for 18 months.

The defendant was ordered to complete a rehabilitation activity requirement and was made the subject of a curfew order between 8pm and 6am for the next three months.

Price must pay £200 prosecution costs and a victim surcharge.