Khalis Reynolds (Image: Gwent Police)
Last Updated: 3 minutes ago
A drug dealer has been caught selling cocaine following his release from prison on licence after being jailed for stealing a charity box during a robbery.
Khalis Reynolds, 25, from Newport, was recalled to prison when police arrested him on December 23 last year on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of the class A drug.
He pleaded guilty to the offence and was due to be sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court on Monday, February 23.
The robbery
Reynolds was jailed for 13 months in January 2025 after pleading guilty to robbery at Lifestyles Express Stores on Greenfield Road, Rogerstone, Newport.
He stole a charity box that had been collecting money in aid of a terminally ill man suffering with cancer. Reynolds took it after wrestling with shop owner Gurpreet Mann before freeing himself and running out with the collection box, which contained around £60.
Paul Hewitt, prosecuting, told Cardiff Crown Court: “He is known to Miss Mann because he’s stolen from her store in the past and he’s also been abusive to staff.
“The charity box was there to raise money for a member of the community who was suffering with cancer and it is terminal by all accounts.
“Miss Mann was very, very upset that the item was stolen.
“She felt very upset and she said not only that but she has to put up with the normal day chores of running a business with putting up with people swearing and stealing from her store.”
Cocaine supply
Following his release from prison on licence, Reynolds was arrested on suspicion of supplying cocaine.
Defence arguments
His case was adjourned after his lawyer Darren Bishop successfully applied for a pre-sentence report.
Cardiff Crown Court heard that Reynolds was an orphan who was looking to move away from Newport to start a new life. Mr Bishop revealed his client’s mother had been murdered when he was aged four and his father died in 2024 from a drug overdose.
Reynolds was himself a drug addict who had been selling cocaine to pay off a debt he had built up.
Mr Bishop said: “He is more motivated than ever to address his own drug issues.”
Sentencing
Judge Vanessa Francis adjourned sentence to March 25. Reynolds was remanded in custody.
