‘It’s no surprise my son’s robber is back in prison’
The dad of murdered Ben Bellamy has spoken out after a man who robbed his son during the attack was sent back to jail.
John Bellamy said he was unsurprised to learn that Andrew Rafferty, who was eventually jailed for taking Ben’s debit card, is back behind bars.
Rafferty was cleared of Ben’s murder but sentenced to a minimum of five years in prison for manslaughter, although his conviction was later quashed by the Court of Appeal, where judges decided he should instead serve seven years in prison for robbery.
But earlier this year Rafferty was handed a three-year prison sentence after being caught in possession of cocaine and crack in a bar in Stokeon-Trent city centre.
The 29-year-old, formerly of Mount Pleasant in Swansea, appeared before Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court after he was discovered with several wraps of the Class A drugs in the toilets of Boston Brothers, in Hanley, along with a list of debtors.
He is now in prison after admitting two counts of possessing a Class A drug with intent to supply.
Mr Bellamy said: “It’s no surprise to see him re-offending.
“He was never going to amount to anything and deserves nothing but the worst.”
During the court case it emerged drug addict Rafferty went to Stoke on September 19 last year, with the aim of staying at the YMCA in Hanley, where he had previously lived.
But he was not given accommodation by the hostel and he went to Boston Brothers, where he attracted the attention of a security guard. Prosecutor Patrick Williamson said: “The defendant entered the toilet. He was noticed by the security guard as he was dressed in work clothes and he was older than the usual clientele.
“The guard went into the toilets and saw that the defendant had entered a cubicle.
“He asked him to come out, but the defendant didn’t reply.
“The guard entered the cubicle, and he noted the defendant’s eyes were bulging. He appeared to be under the influence of drugs. The guard asked the defendant if he was on drugs. The defendant was drunk and handed over four wraps of a white powder, which was cocaine.”
Rafferty was asked to leave the cubicle, but as he did so the guard found a cash bag with six smaller wraps of crack cocaine and a debtors list, which Rafferty admitted during the hearing were his.
On his arrest police discovered he had another wrap, along with two mobile phones and £40 in cash.
Police also carried out a search of his home in Wales, where they discovered another debtors list, plastic bags and tin foil. Rafferty’s phones were also looked at and several drugrelated messages were discovered which indicated street dealing.
The drugs found on Rafferty had a value of around £160, the debtors list included debts of around £7,000.
Arif Hussain, mitigating, told the court that Rafferty, now of Oriel Grove, Bath, had turned to drugs after a long spell in prison. He asked for any prison sentence to be suspended.
But Recorder Stephen Thomas said only an immediate custodial sentence was appropriate in the case.
Ben Bellamy was beaten, robbed and left to drown off Swansea Beach on September 18, 2005.
Joshua Declan Thomas, formerly of Penllergaer, who was 15 at the time, was locked up for at least 18 years when he was convicted of Ben’s murder at Swansea Crown Court in 2006.
But his tariff was cut by 12 months earlier this year, for his efforts to reform himself in prison. His accomplice, Joel Taylor, of Townhill, who was 18 at the time, was handed a 22-year jail term but is understood to also be looking for early release.