Taylor Blackley (Image: Gwent Police)
Last Updated: 1 minute ago
A Newport man who was previously imprisoned for selling heroin to undercover police officers is beginning a fresh jail term after being convicted of cocaine supply offences.
Taylor Blackley, 26, of St Curigs Gardens, Langstone, was sentenced to 44 months at Cardiff Crown Court.
Previous offending
Blackley already has a conviction for drug dealing. In 2019, he was snared during Gwent Police’s Operation Solar – a covert crackdown on organised drug crime in Newport.
Detectives disguised themselves as drug users during the operation, secretly filming their purchases from dealers across the city. Following the covert phase, around 70 officers including specialist units carried out a wave of dawn raids over two days in June 2020, leading to the arrest of Blackley and numerous other suspects.
Around a dozen people were ultimately convicted as a result of the operation. Blackley, who was then living at Broadmead Park, Newport, admitted supplying heroin on December 5, 2019 and was jailed for 27 months by Judge Richard Williams at Cardiff Crown Court in April 2021.
The latest offence
Despite that earlier sentence, Blackley returned to dealing. He was arrested by Gwent Police earlier this year after being found with 44 snap bags of cocaine. He was also in possession of cannabis.
Rob Simkins, prosecuting, told the court that Blackley had been concerned in the supply of cocaine between August 9, 2024 and February 25.
Blackley pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine, possession with intent to supply the class A drug, and simple possession of cannabis.
Sentencing
Judge Paul Hobson sentenced Blackley to 44 months in prison and ordered the forfeiture and destruction of all drugs seized. He will also be required to pay a £228 victim surcharge upon his release.
