Drug dealers were caught driving home from Swansea with a fresh stash of heroin when police intercepted their car, a court has heard.
Shane Lovell and Steven Cole were stopped as they returned to Pembrokeshire when officers acted on intelligence reports suggesting the car was linked to drugs trafficking. Lovell was subsequently found to have heroin in a foil wrap concealed in his anus and said he had travelled to Swansea to get the drug because it was cheaper. Swansea Crown Court heard Cole was acting as a driver for Lovell who had been to Swansea to source the Class A drug, while a judge described Lovell as “a cog in a much larger wheel”.
Harry Dickens, prosecuting, said on December 6 last year police officers acting on intelligence reports stopped a Seat Ibiza car at Robeston Wathen in Pembrokeshire – Cole was driving the vehicle, and sat in the back with a dog was Lovell. The barrister said when the passenger was searched he was found to have a wrap of heroin and a pipe containing traces of white and brown powder. Both men were arrested and taken to Haverfordwest police station for questioning.
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When in custody Lovell was strip searched and police found a further three wraps of cocaine and one of heroin. The court heard the defendant then disclosed to officers that he “an eighth” and offered to “get it out now” – realising what he meant the officers told him to hang on, and he was taken to hospital where a foil wrap containing 3g of heroin was produced from his anus. The defendants’ houses were subsequently searched and a small quantity of cannabis was found in Cole’s property while nothing of evidential value was found at Lovell’s address. An examination of messages on the men’s phones showed their involvement in drug dealing.
In his interview Cole denied being involved in the supply of drugs and said he had driven Lovell to Swansea to see a friend, but he did accept he used to smoke heroin and had allowed others to smoke heroin in his flat. Lovell gave officers a prepared statement in which he denied being involved in drug dealing and said the drugs found on him were for his own use over Christmas and that he had gone to Swansea to buy them because it was cheaper.
Shane Lovell, aged 39, of Cromwell Road, Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of heroin with intent to supply, being concerned in the supply of heroin, being concerned in the supply of cocaine, and the simple possession of cocaine when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has 38 previous convictions for 99 offences including 11 for the possession of drugs of Classes A, B, and C and a “significant” number of dishonesty matters.
Steven Cole, aged 56, of Plas Peregrine, Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, had previously pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of heroin and being concerned in the supply of cocaine – both these offences are limited in time to the day his car was stopped – and to being concerned in the supply of Valium, and the simple possession of cannabis. He has 15 previous convictions for 36 offences.
Andrew Evans, for Lovell, said the defendant had experienced difficulties with drugs for much of his adult life but had been able to deal with his addiction through a combination of work and medication. However, he said in early 2022 Lovell developed sepsis which almost led to the loss of a leg, and when was eventually discharged from hospital and returned to the marital home he found his wife had relapsed into drug use. The advocate said Lovell could properly be described as a “user-dealer”.
Hannah George, for Cole, said it was evident from text messages exchanged between the defendants that the defendant had acted as the driver and as a “middle man” for others, and was given petrol money and drugs for his own use.
Judge Geraint Walters said the supply of drugs had a detrimental effect on the lives of many people, and impacted communities where dealing took place. He described Lovell as a “cog in a much larger wheel” that had criminal gangs at the top of the supply chain. With discounts for their guilty pleas Lovell was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison, and Cole was sentenced to two years and three months. The defendants will serve up to half those sentences in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
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