Swansea Crown Court Sentencing Results

Lindsey Martin was the partner of the organised crime group's leader. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud on the basis that she registered four illegally obtained vehicles but did not know the details of any other vehicles. Her involvement was described in court as peripheral, and her main focus was being a mother to her three children. A Jaguar F-Pace she sold was later exported to Cyprus.

Steffan Hopkins, known as 'Cheddar', worked with the group's leader in the cannabis supply operation. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cannabis and possession of cannabis.

Jamal Malik was involved in an international drug supply operation uncovered by Operation Starburst, led by Tarian Regional Organised Crime Unit. Parcels containing cannabis were imported from the United States to multiple addresses in the Cardiff area, labelled with false names and misleading contents descriptions. Malik played a key role in logistics for the supply line, arranging imports, providing delivery addresses, and assisting with onward drug supply to customers.

Ahmed Abbas Al-Farraji was involved in an international drug supply operation uncovered by Operation Starburst, led by Tarian Regional Organised Crime Unit. Parcels containing cannabis were imported from the United States to multiple addresses in the Cardiff area, labelled with false names and misleading contents descriptions. Al-Farraji, operating under the name 'Josh', controlled a well-established drug supply line supplying Class A drugs, including cocaine, and Class B drugs, including cannabis, across Cardiff and surrounding areas.

Andrew Jenkins was a family associate of an organised crime group involved in a large-scale drug operation in West Wales. He was convicted following a trial of conspiracy to supply Class B drugs. The group supplied cocaine and cannabis in multi-kilo quantities to sub-dealers in Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and parts of Swansea. Following a warrant at the group's base in October 2021, police seized cocaine, cannabis, cash and a semi-automatic pistol.

Ben James pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine between 16 May and 13 November 2025. Text messages recovered from his phone repeatedly referred to dealing at kilo level, with a single kilo of cocaine valued at £20,000. James claimed he lacked the money or assets to deal at that level and that the messages were exaggerations, but at a Newton hearing Recorder Mark Powell rejected his account and found he had been concerned in supplying cocaine in wholesale quantities at an industrial level.

Leon James, 25, turned his home on Corporation Avenue, Llanelli, into a 'corner shop' for drugs. Police executed a warrant on April 15, discovering a dozen wraps of cocaine (77% purity) in a magnetic metal box, cannabis, £885 in cash from James's wallet, and multiple mobile phones. Examination of the phones revealed messages with price lists for Class A and Class B drugs. It was his second conviction for supplying Class A substances; in April 2022 he was sentenced to three years in a young offenders institution for selling drugs from a Swansea hotel. He has 12 previous convictions for 21 offences.

Rainee Blake, 24, lived with Leon James on Corporation Avenue, Llanelli, and assisted him in running a drug supply operation. When police raided the property on April 15, they found drugs and evidence. Phone evidence showed her involvement. She pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine, cannabis, ketamine, and ecstasy. She had no previous convictions and had stopped using drugs, motivated by a desire to care for her six-year-old daughter.

Joshua Sawyer, a 32-year-old car trader from Morriston, Swansea, conspired with DVLA worker Matthew Holloway and fellow trader Ashley Harris in a vehicle document fraud operation. Sawyer paid Holloway to falsify DVLA records and obscure vehicle histories, boosting the apparent value of cars for his business. The conspiracy increased the combined value of affected vehicles by about £1,290,000, with Sawyer personally benefiting from an estimated £75,000 of that uplift. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud between January 2021 and July 2022.

Kismet Kebabs, a Chelmsford-based meat supplier, sold kebab products to restaurants and takeaways that were falsely labelled as lamb. Products marketed as lamb were found to contain little or no lamb, with largely skin, fat, and other meats. A sample of lamb doner claimed 87% lamb contained only 51% meat and 40% fat. The company had been manufacturing and supplying such mislabelled products over a sustained period. A multi-agency investigation by Swansea Council’s Trading Standards uncovered the fraud, which led to a prosecution.

Ashley Harris, a 44-year-old car trader from Llansamlet, Swansea, also known as Keith Wayne Lewis, took part in a conspiracy with DVLA worker Matthew Holloway and trader Joshua Sawyer to falsify vehicle documentation. Harris paid Holloway to alter DVLA records in order to hide a car's true history and inflate its value, contributing to an overall increase of about £1,290,000 across the affected vehicles, from which Harris personally gained approximately £90,000. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud covering January 2021 to July 2022.

Jason Seward was stopped by plain-clothed South Wales Police officers riding an illegally modified e-bike through Ely, Cardiff. A subsequent search uncovered six bags of cocaine and almost £600 in cash. He pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply.

Marcus Howell, 35, was found with £1,525 cash, a block of amphetamine weighing 572g dry, five phones, knives, and a small amount of cocaine at his flat in Moorland Road, Port Talbot. Police executed a warrant on 13 March and his phone showed extensive drug supply messaging. He was also linked to lending money for a drug line. Howell had been released on licence in January 2022 and initially found work at Tata Steel, but returned to dealing after being made redundant in 2025.

Levi Andrews, 21, was involved in dealing cocaine in the Port Talbot area. Police found bulk advertising messages from his number on users' phones, and investigations revealed he also supplied drugs to his mother, Donna Parsons, at her request. He was arrested the day after police visited his address. He ran his own supply operation but had some overlap with his uncle Marcus Howell's activities.

Between July 2023 and October 2024, a group of employees and associates conspired to steal tin ingots from Tata Steel's Trostre site in Llanelli. They used a cloned security pass to access deliveries the day after they were received, loading one or two tonne blocks of tin, worth around £30,000 each, onto a van. The thefts occurred over an extended period, with total losses exceeding £1,000,000. Police were alerted in October 2024 and, on 11 October 2024, intercepted a van leaving the site containing one tonne of tin ingot. Financial investigation revealed profits of £743,826.

Michael David Barrow, 48, of Priory Road, Milford Haven, operated the illegal IPTV service 'MB Streams' between October 2019 and February 2024. He supplied illegal Premier League streams and adapted Amazon Fire TV sticks, initially promoting through Facebook. After receiving a cease-and-desist notice in 2021 he moved to a referral-only model, encouraging cash payments at his home and disguising online payments as purchases of retro football kits. The service had around 1,800 users across the UK, generating more than £200,000.

On 17 December 2025, Dyfed-Powys Police searched an address in Llanelli following information that Jake Ware was supplying Class A and B drugs from the property. Officers seized approximately £4,000 worth of crack cocaine, over £2,000 in cash, weighing scales, and digital devices. Ware, aged 26, of Pwll in Llanelli, was identified as a suspect, went on the run, and was arrested on 26 March 2026 after a public appeal. Further evidence from his Facebook account under 'JJ Mac' confirmed drug dealing activity involving cocaine.

Kian Meredith, aged 22, of Caradog Place, Townhill, was caught supplying cocaine and crack cocaine while on licence from a 2023 conviction for involvement in the 'Jack line' drug network supplying cocaine and heroin in Swansea. On March 23, 2026, police on patrol in Prince of Wales Road witnessed a suspected drug deal involving a group including Meredith. He fled towards Dyfatty junction and was found crouched behind parked cars with wraps of cocaine nearby. Search yielded a mobile phone with messages showing three months of supply activity and a 'tick list' of customer debts, plus £115 cash. He relapsed into use in January 2026, leading to addiction, debt, and dealing.

On April 15, 2025, police executed a search warrant at the home of Jordan Hamilton and Gemma Davies near Pontardawe, seizing mobile phones, weighing scales, and snap-seal bags. Analysis of Hamilton's phone revealed messages connected to the supply of cocaine and cannabis, including communications with Davies about preparing for a customer. Hamilton, a 31-year-old father-of-two and long-term drug user, was involved in relatively low-level supply to friends. He answered 'no comment' in interview.