HEROIN DEALER LOCKED UP
‘Hopeless addict’ caught in woods hid drug in chocolate eggs:
A DRUG addict caught with a Kinder egg containing 25 deals of heroin worth £250 is beginning a three-year jail sentence.
Tony Evans, 45, was caught by police in Menai Woods, Bangor – an area visited by drug users, Caernarfon crown court was told.
Ffion Tomos, prosecuting, said that in February last year officers discovered Evans, Sian Hughes, 49, and another drug user huddled in a secluded area. Evans had a mobile phone and £49, while Hughes had £400 in her bra. Miss Tomos said Evans was “very forthcoming” with police and accepted he had been offered the chance to make money and had been “stupid”.
He’d sold heroin worth £2,000 the day before his arrest. Counsel said Evans confessed to being a heroin and crack cocaine addict and said he was drug dealing to reduce a debt to Liverpool dealers.
“He would get £20 worth of drugs for every £100 he sold,” Miss Tomos said. Since Christmas 2016, he had sold drugs valued at £10,000 on behalf of the suppliers from Liverpool, selling for twelve hours a day to a steady stream of customers. Hughes accepted holding money for her on-off partner Evans. She received a two-year jail term suspended for two years, and must complete twelve months drug rehabilitation and 150 hours unpaid work. Seized cash will be forfeited.
Judge Niclas Parry told the pair: “This case involves a serious example of the corruption of people in the city of Bangor by heroin.
“You, Mr Evans, were responsible for the distribution of thousands of pounds worth of Class A drugs.
“The two of you should know better than anybody how poisonous, how dreadfully addictive, how utterly destructive this drug is.”
The judge said addicts such as them were “used”. However, Judge Parry said: “You knew what you were doing. It was your choice.”
He said Hughes was a “hopeless addict” who would collect the cash from desperate customers. He bore in mind the opportunity she had taken to address her issues.
Evans, of Ffordd Castell, Bangor, admitted possession with intent to supply. Hughes, of Trem y Nant, Bangor, pleaded guilty to being concerned in supplying a drug. Defence barrister Dafydd Roberts said Evans was now drug-free and a mentor in prison. Andrew Green, defending Hughes, said she was described as “gentle, quiet, and well-liked”. Her addiction started in 2015 after the death of her mother.
The lawyer added: “It was a combination of debt and the addiction that drove her behaviour.”
Mr Green said she was now attempting to control her addiction.
Following the sentencing, PC Elwyn Williams said: “Evans and Hughes were members of an organised crime group using the county lines model to sell class A drugs in our communities. I’m sure the sentence will bring a degree of relief to many. The sentence is a message to others thinking of bringing drugs in. This is the latest conviction, more will follow. There is no hiding place.”
Det Sgt Andy Davies said: “Today’s conviction is reward for a combination of good police work and the continued help and support we are receiving from our communities. Intelligence used by police has resulted in almost 80 arrests in MÔn and Gwynedd under Operation Rattle since the operation started, and the seizure of drugs, weapons and other illegal materials.
“Thirty-two individuals have so far been convicted under this operation with many more awaiting trial or still under investigation.”
Operation Rattle is targeting the drugs trade between Merseyside and North West Wales. Anyone with information should call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or the live web chat at northwales. police. uk/ contact/ chat- support.aspx.