A young drug dealer from Cardiff was sent with a 13-year-old boy to pick up drugs in London and sold heroin to an undercover police officer while on bail.
Yusuf Ali, now 22, travelled with the underage boy to pick up heroin and crack cocaine in the English capital in March 2019 before being sent to Bridgwater, in Somerset, to sell the drugs.
The defendant, from Canton, was tasked with packaging the drugs and distributing them on the streets with associates and was only discovered after the 13-year-old boy called his parents for help.
A sentencing hearing at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court also heard Ali, having been arrested and released on bail, had sold heroin to an undercover police officer in Cardiff.
Prosecutor John Hipkin QC said the officer was waiting the arrival of another dealer in Canton on December 17, 2019, but was approached by the defendant and given a phone number from which he could buy drugs. On December 19 the officer contacted the number and arranged to meet with Ali when he was sold 0.311g of heroin for £20.
The defendant, of Broad Street, was arrested and later pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply heroin. He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine in relation to the Somerset charges on the basis that he owed a debt and was following instructions from those further up the chain.
In mitigation Claire Davies said her client was still a "relatively young man" with a lack of maturity who had been in custody since January. She also said his partner was expecting their first child and he would miss the baby's birth as a result of his incarceration.
Judge Daniel Williams sentenced Ali to a total of three years imprisonment.
