Swansea Crown Court Sentencing Results

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.

Leon James, 25, turned his home in 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.

Leighton Burgess was caught with a phone containing incriminating drug messages. He accepted having a £600-a-month crack habit but denied being a dealer, despite messages from his phone number being found on devices of known users. A judge at Swansea Crown Court noted there was a persistent pattern of drug misuse and associated offending in the defendant's life and did not think rehabilitation in the community was a realistic prospect. He was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine, Valium, and pregabalin.

Mary Roberts worked at Barclays Bank in Haverfordwest. On November 22, 2023, a customer visited the branch concerned about possible fraud texts. Roberts read his PIN and kept his debit card when he accidentally left it behind, then used it to withdraw £250 from a cashpoint near her home. The victim died before the trial.

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 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.

On 2 June, Llapushi sped away from police who had signalled him to stop in Aberystwyth. He abandoned the car on a farm track and ran off, leaving seven bags of cocaine worth about £280 inside. Keys left in the ignition carried a tag with a street name, which led officers to him sitting in a taxi. A receipt connected him to a nearby hotel; his phone contained a video he had sent to an accomplice showing himself hiding wraps of cocaine under a hedge, and officers recovered 19 further wraps valued at £760. He had hired the car using false documents posing as an Italian man and was banned from driving at the time.

Between June 2007 and July 2010, Mark Lewis submitted 13 false gift aid claims to HMRC, claiming to have received £3 million in donations to the Welsh Independent School of Climbing and Mountaineering Trust (later renamed MSL Mountaineering Trust), of which he was chief executive. The charity had not actually received the donations stated on the claims. The couple used the fraudulently obtained funds to buy and renovate a house in Stoke, pay a deposit on another house, and invest in failed outdoor-activity and construction businesses. The fraud was uncovered following a joint investigation by the Charity Commission and HMRC.

Rennie Price targeted elderly and vulnerable pensioners, including one aged 98, pretending he had carried out work on their properties before demanding money. The court heard he was motivated by drug addiction and had previously been imprisoned for fraud.

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.

Lewis was involved in the supply of cocaine with Holland. Police found cocaine in her handbag, which she claimed in a prepared statement was for personal use. Phone messages showed her involvement in supplying cocaine and receiving directions from Holland. The court imposed a suspended sentence with rehabilitation and mental health treatment requirements.

On July 4 this year police executed a warrant at the home of Holland and Lewis in Swansea. They found 8g of cocaine and £2,650 in cash, along with a book safe containing weighing scales, empty snap bags and 230 MDMA tablets. Messages on their phones showed both were involved in the supply of cocaine, with Lewis receiving directions from Holland.

Richard Murnane posed as a roofer and scammed elderly victims out of tens of thousands of pounds by taking large deposits for work that was of abysmal standard and often left unfinished. Many victims suffered water damage and faced large repair bills.

Ryan Tucker ran his own separate drug supply operation from the family home in Port Talbot, supplying cocaine, amphetamine, and cannabis. The investigation began on 29 August 2024 after witnessing a suspected drugs exchange involving his brother. On 7 September 2024, police arrested him, seizing his phone and £3,125 cash; phone analysis revealed messages about drug deals over the previous 12 months, including selling for Scousers and owing money to Midsersiders. On Boxing Day 2025, he crashed a VW Golf in Port Talbot, found covered in cocaine with nearly 40g cocaine and 100g cannabis in the car; he was hospitalised in a coma.

In April 2024 following a road traffic collision in Blaenavon, emergency services found Whitehead sat in a crashed car sniffing nitrous oxide canisters. The defendant was arrested and searched; in his bum bag police found 56 individual wraps of crack cocaine and 30 wraps of heroin with a combined street value of almost £4,000 while in his pockets was some £273 in cash. Police also recovered a Nokia burner phone containing messages relating to the supply of class A drugs including 'text bombs' saying 'Get your orders in' and one sent on the morning of his arrest saying 'Active from 8.30. Drops. Both'.

On October 27, 2024, police stopped Saif Ali's white Ford Fiesta exiting Gore Terrace in Swansea at speed due to strong smell of cannabis. Search found 79g cannabis in 16 bags, £765 cash, 7.3g cocaine, and blister packs of tablets in the car; Ali had four 0.5g bags of cocaine on him. Home search uncovered scales with white residue, £300 cash, and small bags of white powder. Phone showed messages relating to drug supply.

Aland was involved in a Kurdish organised crime group supplying cannabis in Swansea. Police saw a suspected drugs exchange in Carlton Terrace and detained him near a black Audi car, where they found deals of cannabis, cash and drugs paraphernalia. He said he had been living in Home Office accommodation in Warrington and was approached by a man offering work in Swansea, and that he was paid £30 a day to sell cannabis.

In early 2024, police identified a county lines drug operation between London and south Wales. On April 19, 2024, officers intercepted a Volkswagen T-Cross driven by Stirton on the westbound M4 at Margam, with passenger Angelica Davey. Found 58 wraps of heroin and 147 wraps of cocaine worth £2,400, plus a burner phone and defendants' phones showing multiple trips between London and Swansea in March and April, bulk texts advertising drugs sent from Sarn Park services, and hotel bookings in Swansea.

Shane Kelly, 36, of Skewen, was connected to a mobile phone seized during a drugs raid in Briton Ferry in July 2024. The phone had been used by multiple dealers and contained a list of drug users. Kelly was arrested in July 2025. Messages showed he supplied cocaine directly to users and passed quantities to another dealer. A search of his home found weighing scales with traces of white powder and snap-seal bags. He also admitted simple possession of cannabis.

Police executed a search warrant at Shaun Peters' home in Skewen on July 8 and found 97g of cannabis, cannabis vapes, cannabis edibles, and cash estimated at between £8,000 and £10,000. His phone contained messages related to supplying cannabis. At the time he was subject to a suspended sentence for similar drug offending.

Nam Ngoc was found with 5kg of cannabis in his car while delivering drugs from Swansea to Cardiff, and possessed a false international driver's licence.

Owain Williams-Bates trashed his partner's flat, cut up her clothes, threw pasta sauce, paint and flour around, cut cables on electrical items, and emptied bags of rubbish onto her bed. He also stole a memory box containing keepsakes of her son.

Omar Ahmed was stopped by police in Swansea city centre on 6 July 2026 after officers saw he matched the description of a person wanted in connection with alleged drug dealing. He was found with a phone, £115 in cash, and keys to a Honda Civic parked nearby. A search of the car uncovered half a kilogram of cannabis worth around £3,800. He answered no comment in interview and later pleaded guilty.

Migl Dollani travelled to the UK hoping to become a professional footballer but became involved in dealing cocaine and cannabis. Police found a stash of drug deals in his car, cash, and a phone whose PIN he refused to reveal. His advocate said he had been exploited and was desperate to return to Albania; he agreed to voluntary deportation on condition he never returns to the UK.

On July 10, 2025, police stopped a car in the Hafod area of Swansea driven by Carl Mitford with Oliver in the front passenger seat. Search uncovered wraps of cocaine valued at up to £230 from the front passenger seat. Phones seized revealed messages connected to drug supply between the defendants. Further investigation in January 2026 linked Oliver to cocaine supply; search of his home on January 27 recovered empty snap-seal bags.