A boy caught dealing heroin on the streets of Newport aged just 16 has moved to Swansea in a bid to turn his life around, a court has heard.
The teenager - who had previously been caught selling heroin to undercover cops in the Gwent city - was found dealing again near Newport train station.
Now aged 17, the youngster has been taken in by family members living in Swansea in the hope of putting him back on the straight and narrow.
Swansea Crown Court heard that in November, 2017, CCTV operators in Newport became suspicious of the activities of a teenager in a taxi outside the Admiral building near Newport train station.
Ian Ibrahim, prosecuting, said a woman was seen to approach the cab from the direction of the station, and the defendant - who cannot be named because of his age - got out of the vehicle to meet her.
An "exchange" was seen to take place before the teen got back into the taxi, and was driven away.
The court heard a police officer in the council CCTV control room was watching what was happening, and radioed colleagues - the cab was stopped at nearby traffic lights by a passing PC, and the woman was detained by a British Transport Police officer from the train station.
When the teenager was searched he was found to have £580 in cash, and two mobile phones.
When the woman was searched she was found to have two wraps of heroin of 20 per cent purity - a little below the typical Newport purity for street-bought heroin of 23 per cent.
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She told police she had travelled to Newport from Port Talbot that day to buy heroin after arranging the deal over the phone with a man, and had paid the teenage dealer £140 for the drugs.
The teenager had previously pleaded guilty to supplying heroin and to possessing criminal property - the money - at youth court when he appeared in the dock of the higher court for sentencing.
The court heard he had a number of previous convictions including for dangerous driving, and supplying heroin.
The drugs conviction, from early 2017, had seen him twice sell the Class A drug to undercover police officers outside Pill Harriers Sports Club in Newport.
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Andrew Evans, for the defendant, said his client had initially become involved in drug dealing after running up a £380 debt incurred for buying a bicyle.
He said the teenager's Swansea uncle had taken the defendant away from his parents in Newport, and brought him to live in Swansea to get the youngster away from "malign influences" that had been at work previously.
The advocate said that since his move west at the beginning of the year his client had been out of trouble, "adhering to his uncle's rules", and abiding by a curfew.
He said: "Since being taken under the wing of members of his family in Swansea, his life has been transformed. His prospects now are potentially quite good."
Mr Evans asked the judge to follow the "wholly exceptional" course recommended by probation, and not impose a sentence of immediate custody.
Judge Geraint Walters described the dealing of heroin as a "vile business" run by criminal gangs.
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He said there was an "emerging trend" of gangs enlisting vulnerable youngsters to do their "dirty work", and said is was a shame more of the gang members higher up the chain of command weren't being brought to justice.
Judge Walters described the use of youngsters by drugs gangs as "truly wicked behaviour", adding: "It seems to me, if it could be proved they are running children it is a hugely aggravating factor for which they could expect to be dealt with harshly."
He told the teenager that, ordinarily, a person dealing in Class A drugs could expect prison - but in his case he seemed to be turning his life around thanks to his Swansea uncle and the work of the youth offending team, and it would not be in the interests of justice to impose immediate custody.
The boy was made the subject of an intensive supervision and surveillance order, and a curfew.
Two previously imposed court orders he was subject to were revoked.
Judge Walters told the defendant this would be his last chance - and reminded him that if he were caught dealing again as an adult, he would be facing a seven-year minimum sentence because of his previous convictions.
He said: "Let's make a promise to each other that we not meet in court again."
The judge added that the lengthy delay in bringing the case to court - the teenager was only notified by post on October 10 this year that he was to be charged - was "wholly inexcusable".
Ordering the confiscation of the £580 found on the defendant when he was arrested, he said the cash should be given to the Gwent Police drug squad to assist in their work - adding that he hoped the money would help make their investigations a bit quicker.
