Man accused of dealing was ‘self-medicating’
AMAN accused of conspiring to supply Class A drugs in Bridgend told a court he used heroin as pain relief to “self-medicate” for stomach problems.
Robert Owen, 56, denies conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine and he is on trial at Cardiff Crown Court with three co-defendants Ian Wilkins, Natalie Stephens and Kane Griffiths.
Giving evidence from the witness box, he said: “When I came out of jail, I made a vow. That’s it. No more.”
The court heard he was convicted of possessing a Class A drug with intent to supply in 2014 and was released from prison in 2016.
Owen said: “I’ve got a bad past. I can’t do nothing about my past, but I’m trying to sort my future out.”
The jury was told he had other convictions for possessing cannabis, possessing cannabis with intent to supply and possessing crack cocaine.
Asked if he was addicted to heroin when police raided his home in January, Owen replied: “I was self-medicating. I use it for pain relief.”
He told the court he had stomach problems and had to stop using prescription medication.
His barrister Harry Baker asked where he was getting the heroin from and Owen answered: “On the street.”
He said he would buy 0.2g for £10 and when prosecutor Christopher Rees asked how he was funding it, he told the court he was doing “odd jobs” like gardening for elderly neighbours.
Mr Rees said: “I’m suggesting the only way you could fund that habit was by supplying drugs?” The defendant replied: “You show me where I’ve supplied drugs?”
Asked how easy it was to buy heroin, Owen told the court some dealers had been sent to prison recently, but
he still knew four or five.
Questioned about how he got the number for the “Rogue Line”, he replied: “The person I was getting heroin from had been arrested. Somebody offered me another number. I rang that number.”
The court previously heard two girls – who cannot be named for legal reasons – arrived at Bridgend railway station on January 23.
Prosecutors allege Griffiths was responsible for recruiting them from London to work at a “safe house” dealing drugs in south Wales.
Owen said “Rogue” asked him to help out by giving the girls somewhere to stay.
He told the court he did not mind having people to stay as he had lived on the streets himself and sometimes invited homeless people to stay on his floor.
Owen said he was living in a onebed council flat on Tremains Road and Wilkins had been staying on his sofa for a few weeks following an argument with his mother.
Wilkins and Owen were seen on CCTV picking the girls up from the station in a blue BMW.
Owen said: “All I’ve done is help someone I thought was stuck. But the penny dropped. I’d been mugged off. The girls would be there to sell drugs.”
He said he told “Rogue”: “Don’t take me for a mug. I’m out of this game. I said they could stay, not sell.”
Owen told the court he “kicked them out” then: “Two lads came round like: ‘What do you think you’re doing? You’ll be sorry.’ And all that.”
He said he got an axe from his tool box and put it next to his bed. He said a lock knife seized by police was a present he had “lying around”.
Owen told the court a knuckle duster found at his property was left behind by a youngster after he told him why he should not carry it.
Mr Rees suggested: “It’s all there, isn’t it, because you’ve got to protect your stash?” The defendant replied: “What stash?”
The court heard police raided his house on January 27 and found 3g of heroin. Owen said: “I don’t know where that came from.”
Asked why a man turned up with a £10 note asking for Rob as police searched the property, he said people kept asking him for drugs, even though he had not been dealing for five years.
Owen, from Tremains Road; Stephens, 31, from Waunscil Avenue; and Griffiths, 22, from Coutts Avenue in Chessington, deny conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine.
Wilkins, 42, from Westward Place, denies the same counts, as well as being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine.
The trial continues.