A 22-YEAR-OLD man from Barry has been handed a three-year prison sentence after a police investigation identified him as the person behind the LZ drugs line.
Lucas Byrne was involved in supplying the Class A drug between January 2024 and March 2025.
Byrne admitted being concerned in offering to supply cocaine at a previous hearing earlier this month, and at a sentencing hearing, Cardiff Crown Court heard how he had been released from prison on licence following a previous conviction for dealing drugs when he returned to his old ways, and of how he tried to cover his tracks by moving a SIM card between different handsets.
Prosecutor Rose Glanville told the court police were investigating an active drugs line known as the LZ line, and that phone evidence showed Byrne had been sending out “text bombs”, namely bulk text messages, to up to 50 contacts at a time. The messages showed Byrne had been supplying cocaine to “low-level dealers” and that he had also been street dealing himself.
When arrested, the defendant was found to be carrying £1,670 in cash along with an iPhone.
Byrne’s sole previous conviction came in December 2022 when he was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment for possession of cocaine with intent to supply, and he had been released on licence when he committed his latest offence.
The prosecutor said that switching the SIM card between handsets to avoid detection was a “common technique” among drug dealers.
Derrick Gooden, mitigating on Byrne’s behalf, said his client had experienced “difficulties” during his life but was not seeking to blame anyone else and was aware of the risks he was taking by being involved in the supply of Class A drugs.
Mr Gooden said character references supplied to the court “speak to a different Lucas Byrne” from the one who had committed the offences and that his client wanted to spend his prison term constructively by doing as many courses as possible.
Recorder Dyfed Thomas said officers had undertaken a “persistent and considerable” investigation which resulted in the LZ line being attributed to Byrne.
The recorder said he had read letters to the court written by Byrne’s partner and grandparents and that it was clear there were people who cared about the defendant, and they did not want to see him waste his life.
Byrne was warned by the recorder that if he is caught dealing Class A drugs for a third time, the sentence as a “third-strike” dealer would start at seven years in jail.
On this occasion, Byrne received a one-quarter discount for his guilty plea and was sentenced to three years behind bars. Byrne will serve up to half the sentence in prison before being released on licence.
By Marcus Stead – News Reporter
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