A man from Wrexham has been jailed for five years after changing his plea at the last minute to guilty of possessing cocaine with intent to supply.

Some had been found hidden in the car of Carl Adrian Nicholas, 34, of Coed Aben, Caia Park, Caernarfon Crown Court was told yesterday.

Judge Huw Rees told Nicholas he chose to deal in a commodity which could blight people’s lives.

The drugs had a street value of between £2,500 and £3,750 and his barrister Oliver King said Nicholas and his partner were drug users and some would have been for themselves.

The judge was told that when  Nicholas was arrested, he was on licence from an 18-month prison term for intimidating witnesses.

He also had a 2011 conviction for drug dealing when he was jailed for 21 months.

Det Insp Mark Hughes of North Wales Police said after the hearing: “We welcome today’s substantial sentence which demonstrates that possession and distribution of controlled drugs will not be tolerated.

“Nicholas was arrested as part of a ‘stop search’ in line with our long-running Operation Scorpion which tackles organised crime in North Wales and is aimed at those who cause harm by supplying illegal drugs.

“We will continue to take positive, robust action. However, we can’t tackle this problem alone and key to all our work is intelligence.

“People should share their concerns with us. Use the web live chat www.north-wales.police.uk/ contact/chat-support.aspx or by phoning 101.”