Cops’ hunch about car trips helped foil heroin dealers
OFFICERS STOPPED VEHICLE AFTER JOURNEYS OVER BORDER
TWO street dealers were caught after police became suspicious about their car making trips out of North Wales.
Their hunch proved to be right as they found heroin when they stopped and searched them.
The Gwynedd men pleaded guilty to Class A drugs offences and appeared at Caernarfon Crown Court to be sentenced.
Stephen Nesbitt, 40, of Jubilee Road, Barmouth, and Lee Clarkson, 35, of Glan Gors, Harlech, were both jailed for possession with intent to supply heroin.
The court heard that police noticed that a car would leave North Wales and officers decided to stop it in October 2020.
Prosecutor Anna Price said they later found a black plastic
bag containing 41.3g of heroin, with a 55% purity and worth £4,130.
Both defendants were arrested and taken to Dolgellau Police Station. They gave no comment answers to questions in police interviews.
But phone messages linked them to drug dealing.
Kevin Jones, defending Nesbitt, said it had only been one incident of drug dealing and Nesbitt was not actively dealing every day.
He has found a place on a detoxification programme and shown he can be rehabilitated. He also has the chance to help a local football team.
Simon Killeen, defending Clarkson, said he had only offended on one day.
He has “significant mental health difficulties and vulnerabilities” and supports his partner who has her own health problems.
The judge His Honour Timothy Petts told the defendants: “Your car was stopped by police in North Wales following suspicions about the trips the car has been making out of North Wales. Those suspicions were well-founded.”
After several searches officers found the heroin, drug paraphernalia and incriminating mobile phones.
He jailed Clarkson for three years and one month and sent Nesbitt to prison for two years and 11 months for the Class A drug offences.
The difference was due to their pleading guilty at different stages. He also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs and