South Wales Evening Post

Drug-dealing dad told cops he was ‘just trying to make ends meet’

A DRUG dealing dad had £8,000 in cash and cocaine worth more than £17,000 stashed under his bed, a court has heard.

Messages found on Shaun Gwyther’s phone showed he was buying kilo quantities of the drug from a contact who was shipping large amounts of coke into the UK via Amsterdam.

Swansea Crown Court heard that when he was arrested the 26-year-old defendant told officers he was “just trying to make ends meet”.

Sending Gwyther down for 52 months, a judge said it was clear from everything he knew about the defendant that there was “hope” for him and he said he was not going to impose a sentence that would “crush” him.

Caitlin Brazel, prosecutin­g, said in March this year police in Swansea investigat­ing a separate drug supply operation arrested a male and seized his phone, and a subsequent download and analysis of the messages on the device showed he had been in regular contact with the defendant and had been supplying him with kilos of cocaine.

The court heard that officers went to Gwyther’s house on the morning of July 26 this year to arrest him, and as they approached the property they saw the defendant leaving the address and walking away down a nearby alley.

The officers followed Gwyther and stopped him, and as he was being detained the defendant dropped two snap-seal bags containing 3.3g of cocaine.

Gwyther was searched and two phones – an iphone and an unregister­ed “burner”-type phone – were recovered.

The court heard police then searched the defendant’s address and found more than 600g of cocaine in a sandwich bag and cash hidden under the bed along with the further quantities of cocaine in a bedside cabinet.

Officers also found weighing scales containing a residue of white powder.

In total some 717g of cocaine was recovered worth more than £20,000.

When Gwyther was further arrested he told officers: “You’ve caught me redhanded. I’m just trying to make ends meet”.

The prosecutor said when the burner phone found on Gwyther was examined officers found messages stretching back to January 2021 which showed he had been involved in the buying and selling of cocaine in the Swansea area.

She said some of the conversati­ons showed the defendant had been purchasing kilos of cocaine for £28,500 a time while one showed he was also in contact with a group of people who had just shipped 20kg of cocaine into the UK from Amsterdam and were offering to supply it to him for the “cheaper” price of £26,000 per kilo.

The gang also told Gwyther the cocaine was of high quality and was good for “washing”, that is for turning into crack cocaine.

Meanwhile messages on Gwyther’s iphone contained “numerous” conversati­ons about the supply of cocaine to users including price lists for various quantities and requests for drop-offs and deliveries.

Shaun Gwyther, of Elphin Gardens, Townhill, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply, being concerned in the supply of cocaine, and possession of criminal property - cash - when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous conviction­s.

Anthony O’connell, for Gwyther, said while his client had on occasions bought cocaine by the kilo it was not the kind of case where the defendant was turning over those quantities quickly.

He said the defendant “already had a drug problem” before he lost his job prior to the Covid pandemic and then matters “spiralled” and he “fell in with the wrong crowd”.

He added that Gwyther had a fiveyear-old daughter and also had mental health issues.

Recorder Simon Hughes said while Gwyther’s drug operation may have started in a modest way it was clear that towards the end of the period of his offending he was playing a major role in supplying cocaine in Swansea.

He said he had read the “eloquent” letter the defendant had written him and he said Gwyther was a young man who had previously worked - he said he thought there was “hope” for the defendant and he would not impose a sentence that would “crush” him.

With one-third discounts for this guilty pleas, Gwyther was sentenced to 52 months in prison, comprising 52 months for being concerned in the supply of cocaine, 49 months for possession of cocaine with intent to supply, and 12 months for possession of criminal property all to run concurrent­ly.

The defendant will serve up to half his sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.