Two clueless drug dealers were spotted by shocked commuters openly counting out drugs on a busy morning train, a court heard.
Passengers aboard a service from Llanelli to Swansea in February last year were shocked as Billy Hearn, 26, and Callum Booth, 25, had covered the train table in drugs they were counting out.
They rang the police about the two lads who “appeared to be counting tablets” and officers were waiting for the pair when the train arrived, WalesOnline reported.
Hearn and Booth were arrested and officers recovered blister packs of Valium pills and the analgesic pregabalin from the table along with 10 loose Valium tablets.
Hearn was searched and was found to be carrying 41g of the drug spice along with more Valium and pregabalin tablets.
Booth was found to be carrying 100 pregabalin tablets in blister packs, and 35 Valium tablets.
After being questioned the pair were released under investigation.
Then the day after they were caught red-handed with the drugs, Booth carried out an armed robbery on a Lifestyle Express store in Swansea.
During the attack, he and his accomplice, Tyler Rowles, burst into the store brandishing an axe.
Swansea Crown Court heard how on the morning of February 4 last year, officers received calls from members of the public regarding the suspicious activity of two intoxicated men on a train from Llanelli to Swansea.
Billy Joe Hearn, aged 26, formerly of Crynallt Road, Cimla, Neath, but now of Gore Terrace, Mount Pleasant, Swansea, pleaded guilty to possession of spice with intent to supply, possession of pregabalin with intent to supply, possession of Valium with intent to supply, and to the simple possession of pregabalin and Valium when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.
He has 19 previous convictions for 25 offences including burglary, public order matters, possession of a knife, and violence.
Callum James Booth, aged 25, of Vivian Street, Hafod, Swansea, pleaded guilty to possession of pregabalin with intent to supply and to possession of Valium with intent to supply when he appeared alongside his co-defendant.
He has 26 previous convictions for 47 offences including supplying spice, the shop Penlan robbery, and administering a noxious thing, namely urine - this offence relates to him throwing urine over a prison officer while serving the robbery sentence at HMP Berwyn in Wrexham.
They were both sentenced to four months in prison but Booth was subsequently given a nine-year extended sentence for the armed robbery, consisting of six years in custody and an extended three-year licence period.
The court also heard how Hearn was sentenced to two years in prison in March of this year for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
There had been a notable but unexplained delay in this case coming to court, the judge acknowledged and whilst in prison Hearn had been studying an NVQ in Business Studies and had obtained a Construction Skills Certification Scheme.
Booth wouldn't be able to apply for parole until November 2025.
