A dealer "caught with his trousers down" with £30,000 of cocaine in his house told officers the drugs were for his own personal use, a court has heard. James Selby also had weighing scales, a tick list of customers, and thousands of pounds in cash lying around.
A judge said it was clear the defendant had been running a business supplying Class A drugs and profiting from the misery of users, and it was "absurd" that police had taken a year to charge him. He said he was required to reduce the sentence that Selby was going to get because of the length of time taken by police, and he said the in such cases the public was not getting the service is deserved from the prosecuting authorities.
Caitlin Brazel, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that officers executed a search warrant at the defendant's house in Neath town centre on the morning of October 21 last year. After forcing entry they found Selby in an upstairs room, and when police asked him if there were any drugs in the property he replied that he had some "stuff" in the kitchen. A search of the house uncovered bags of cocaine - much of it with a high purity level of 70 per cent - along with bags of tablets and fragments of tablets of bromazolam, stanozolol and etizolam, and 16 packets of testosterone pills. The court heard the street value of the cocaine was estimated at more than £30,000. Also in the property was more than £5,000 in cash along with weighing sales and hand written notes of amounts of money owed. The court heard that when 30-year-old Selby's phone was examined officers found messages relating to the supply of cocaine.
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In his police interview the defendant told officers that the cocaine was for his own personal use and that he had bought six-months worth of stock for some £9,000 a couple of weeks before police searched his house. He said the money police found was cash he had saved from his work as a builder.
James Selby, of Eastland Road, Neath, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply, being concerned in the supply of cocaine, four counts of possession of a Class C drug, and possession of criminal property - namely cash - when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions. For the latest court reports, sign up to our crime newsletter here
James McKenna, for Selby, said following the sudden death of his father in 2019 the defendant had turned to using cannabis as a coping mechanism, and he said the use of that drug had developed into his client taking a "cocktail" of cannabis and Valium and then into taking cocaine. He said as the cost of his drug use spiralled Selby had "stupidly" involved himself in supplying cocaine. The barrister said following his arrest last year the defendant had voluntarily sought help from drugs agencies and his GP, and he said whether through "luck or the incompetence of South Wales Police" his client had had 12 months to "transform" his life. He said Selby was now a very different man from the one who had turned to drugs following the passing of his father, and he invited the court pass a sentence that was capable of being suspended.
Judge Geraint Waters said Selby had been involved in a "business" supplying significant quantities of cocaine, and the defendant had "profited from the misery of others". He said the defendant had "so-to-speak, been caught with his trousers down" when police forced entry to his house, and he said it was "absurd" that he had not been charged with drug trafficking offences immediately. The judge said as a result of the delay in the case the sentence that Selby deserved for his actions would be reduced, and he said in such cases the public was not getting the service it deserves from the prosecution. He added that no one had even had the courtesy to provide the court with an explanation for the delay, something that was "disrespectful".
Judge Walters told Selby that all those who deal Class A drugs know what sentence awaits them, and if dealers take the risk and are caught then they have to pay the price. He said he had been invited by the defendant's barrister to pass a suspended sentence but while he had reduced the sentence significantly to take account of the Selby's personal circumstances and the delay it was "a step far, far too far" to impose a sentence other than one of immediate custody. With a discount for his guilty plea Selby was sentenced to two years in prison comprising two years for the cocaine offences, one month for the Class C offences, and three months for criminal property offence all to run concurrently. He will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
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