A TEENAGER from Llandudno has been sentenced to detention in a young offenders’ institution after dealing class A drugs.

Charley Jones, 19, of Maes Y Cym, was sentenced to three years and nine months’ detention at Mold Crown Court today (September 13).

He had previously pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine, ketamine and cannabis.

Prosecuting, Thomas McLoughlin told the court that, in June, police identified a mobile phone “graft number” sending “flare messages” advertising the sale of the drugs to the public.

The phone which the number was linked to had only been registered earlier in June, and was a typical “Nokia brick-type” device.

It was found to have been used to contact Jones’ brother, and to book taxis in the name of the defendant, many of which were to take him to and from probation appointments.

Between June 7 and July 18, a total of 1,654 “flare messages” were sent from the number, many to children or young adults advertising the sales of these drugs.

Jones was arrested on August 21, when items including cannabis, cocaine, ketamine, a set of scales, and £1,100 in cash were seized from his home.

When interviewed, Jones said the £1,100 had been “recently released from his trust fund”.

These offences were committed while Jones was serving a suspended sentence, which he received in August 2023 after slashing a man’s tyres and threatening him with a machete.

Defending Jones, who had nine previous convictions for 27 offences, Sarah Yates said he was “targeted” and “placed under pressure” after he had “got into a debt”.

Jones, she said, has lived a “chaotic lifestyle” and has been “mixing with the wrong crowd”.

But Ms Yates added: “This is a man who can, when he puts his mind to it, focus, work hard, and do well.

“Just because one obtains the age of an adult doesn’t mean, mentally or emotionally, you are at that level.”

Sentencing, Recorder Wyn Lloyd-Jones told Jones he has a “very, very bad record, especially for someone so young”.

Recorder Lloyd-Jones told him: “Controlled drugs are a very serious problem in our society. They destroy lives, they destroy families, and they’ve brought you to this crown court.

“It is, sadly, a very familiar story. It’s another indication of how serious the problem is in society with these serious drugs.”

The drugs and paraphernalia seized from Jones were ordered to be forfeited and destroyed, and the £1,100 confiscated.

Jones will also pay a statutory surcharge.