Alleged drug dealer ‘tried to snap phone in half when he saw police’

A MAN arrested on suspicion of conspiring to supply drugs tried to snap his phone in half when he saw the police, a court heard.

Cardiff Crown Court heard that John Knight attempted to break his mobile phone when officers arrived on the forecourt of his business White Knight Motor Company in Swansea.

Matthew Cobbe, prosecuting, said: “He attempted to snap a mobile phone in half.” Knight is one of five men on trial accused of conspiring to supply the Class A drug cocaine.

Prosecutors allege Knight led the operation in South Wales and say he had a lot of phones in a bid to avoid police surveillance.

The court heard police arrested him at around 10.50am on March 15 after intercepting driver Stuart Jarman on the M4 and finding 2kg of cocaine in his van.

Co-defendant Anthony Vobe was also arrested at the garage in Clydach.

Taking the jury through a detailed timeline with South Wales Police intelligence analyst Gaynor Broughton, Mr Cobbe said alleged co-conspirator Jason Theobold’s phone was also broken. The court heard Theobold’s phone was recovered by police from the creases of a curtain in the living room of his home in Rhymney.

The intelligence analyst said cell site technology indicated Jarman was at Kidbrooke in Blackheath, London, around 6.30am on the day of his arrest.

Prosecutors allege Lec Gjoka was based in south-east London and supplied the group with cocaine, which they brought to Wales. Police intercepted Jarman at Membury Services on the M4 around 10.10am.

Prosecutors said he was arrested as he got out of his van and officers found a blue plastic bag “jammed” behind the driver’s seat which contained cocaine with a potential street value of £450,000.

Jarman, 41, from Garden City, Rhymney – who prosecutors say was a driver for the group – has pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply cocaine and cannabis.

Lyndon Evans, 37, from Union Street in Ammanford; Vobe, 41, from Tregynllaeth Farm in Ammanford; and Knight, 36, from Pleasant Street, Pentre, admit conspiring to supply cannabis. They, plus Gjoka, 42, from Fairlands Court in Blackheath, London; and Theobold, 42, from Hill Street, Rhymney, deny conspiring to supply cocaine.

The trial continues.