Pontypool dealer caught after thief stole drugs worth £17k
He was undone when a burglar broke into the shed and took the Primark bag in which he was keeping the class A drugs.
The defendant was using a 'small group of street dealers' to sell the cocaine, Cardiff Crown Court was told.
Hywel Davies, prosecuting, said the police became involved when they investigated the break-in which occurred at around 3am during the early hours of Saturday, May 24.
The bag containing the drugs had been dropped by the burglar and its contents traced back to Gibbins.
He had initially claimed the cocaine was for his own personal use.
Officers found further amounts of the class A drug, cannabis and Pregabalin – used to treat epilepsy and anxiety – and £210 cash in the defendant's bedroom.
Gibbins, of Lasgarn View, Varteg admitted possession with intent to supply cocaine, possession of a class B drug and possession of a class C drug.
The defendant has eight previous convictions for 32 offences and was previously jailed for six months for supplying cannabis, Mr Davies told the court.
Gibbins' barrister Tim Naylor said the best mitigation he could present to the court was his client's early guilty plea to supplying cocaine.
His lawyer added: 'His life has been blighted by the use of drugs for some years and he was dealing to fund his own cocaine habit.
'The defendant was buying nine ounces at a time and using a small group of street dealers.
'This is a 39-year-old man still living at home who was dealing drugs out of his shed.'
Mr Naylor added that Gibbins had previously been treated for obesity.
Judge Shomon Khan told the defendant that he could only 'speculate' that the burglar had known he was storing cocaine in his garden shed.
He said that Gibbins had put his family 'in harm's way'.
The defendant was jailed for three years and four months.
Gibbins was told he would serve half or 40 per cent of that term in custody before being released on licence.
Judge Khan ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs.
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