Cycling crack dealer caught in the act by police
A CYCLING crack dealer was caught red-handed after police saw him trying to sell drugs to an intoxicated man on the street, a court has heard.
A search of Dean Pile’s house revealed a supply of cocaine along with £4,000 in cash, and a stash of amphetamine in the freezer.
Swansea Crown Court heard it was the second time Pile had been caught dealing cocaine.
Sending him back to prison, a judge said it appeared he had learned nothing from his previous incarceration.
Brian Simpson, prosecuting, said on the afternoon of February 11 this year police on patrol on Pentregethin Road in the Manselton area of Swansea saw a man who appeared to be intoxicated making hand gestures at a cyclist who was riding towards him.
As the officers watched, the bike rider – 42-year-old Pile – stopped and tried to hand the pedestrian a small bag.
The officers moved in and arrested both men, and an examination of the bag showed it contained half a gram of crack cocaine.
When Pile was searched he was found to be carrying £185 in cash and an iphone containing messages relating to the supply of drugs in quantities worth £30, £50 or £100.
The court heard that a search of the defendant’s house uncovered a pot in the kitchen cupboard containing another 1.5g of crack, while in the freezer police found 19g of amphetamine.
A total of £3,994 in cash was also recovered from the property, along with a number of phones. An examination of the mobiles showed Pile had been involved in the supply of cocaine since the previous October.
The defendant gave a “no comment” interview to officers.
Dean Edward Pile, of Cromwell Street in Mount Pleasant, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply, being concerned in the supply of cocaine, possession of criminal property – the money found on him and in the house – and the simple possession of amphetamine when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.
He has 10 previous convictions for 22 offences including four for the simple possession of cocaine, and one for possession of cocaine with intent to supply from 2012 for which he was sentenced to three years in prison.
Dan Griffiths, for Pile, said an addiction to alcohol and Class A drugs had blighted almost all of the defendant’s adult life.
He said the addiction could not be funded by legitimate means and the defendant had turned to dealing, though he said it was accepted that the money found in his house showed he was “turning a profit” from his activities.
The advocate added that while in recent years Pile had managed to drastically reduce his consumption of alcohol, the same could not be said for Class A drugs, and both the defendant and his family realised that the best place for him at the moment was in custody.
Judge Geraint Walters said it seemed Pile had “learnt nothing” from his previous prison sentence and had gone back to dealing, and he warned him that if he again returned to dealing Parliament had set the starting point for sentence for a third-time offender at seven years.
With a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas, Pile was sentenced to a total of four and a half years in prison comprising four and a half years for the cocaine dealing offences, six months for the possession of the money, and three months for the possession of amphetamine, all to run concurrently.
The defendant will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.