A teenager was found in possession of £700-worth of crack cocaine after he assaulted a street warden when he was stopped while riding an electric bike. He was also found in possession of a 15in Rambo-style knife.
Logan Winter, 18, was stopped in Cardiff city centre on October 5 last year by a street warden as part of an operation tackling the antisocial use of electric bikes. He was spoken to about riding on pedestrian streets and the need for a driving licence and insurance while riding a high-powered bike.
A sentencing hearing at Swansea Nightingale Court heard the defendant rode off without warning and street warden Paul Smith chased after him. Prosecutor Ieuan Bennett said Mr Smith tried to grab the defendant by his coat but was assaulted after his arm was pushed away.
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After ditching the bike Winter ran towards The Hayes where he was detained by a police officer. A large Rambo-style knife with a blade measuring 15in was discovered in his jogging bottoms.
A further search of the defendant revealed a bag containing 71 small wraps of crack cocaine and three mobile phones. The wraps each contained between 0.13g and 0.18g and had a total street value of £710. One of the phones was found to contain messages to Winter's upstream supplier and a photograph of a person holding a large amount of cash.
Upon being arrested the defendant denied the drugs belonged to him but admitted the phones were his. Winter, of Chapel Wood, Pentwyn, later pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cocaine, possession of cocaine, assault by beating, and possession of a knife. The court heard he has previous convictions for possession of an axe, possession of a knife, and attempted robbery.
In mitigation Matthew Comer said his client lacked maturity and had a traumatic childhood due to both of his parents being Class A drug users and witnessing violence in his home. He was placed in care at the age of 13 and turned to dealing crack cocaine in order to fund his addiction to nitrous oxide.
Sentencing, Recorder David Elias KC said: "You were making significant amounts of money from the sale of this drug. The court accepts you were dealing primarily to find your own addiction to nitrous oxide."
Winter was suspended to a total of 29 months detention in a young offenders' institute. He will serve half the sentence in detention before he is released to serve the remainder on licence.
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