It is unclear why taxi driver Amar Al-Soralmi fell into a life of crime, but it is obvious he could not just walk away without consequences.
The 31-year-old had led a blameless life before becoming a pawn in a drugs conspiracy, headed by slick criminal operator Ahmed Sabbagh-Parry. The heavily built and shaved-headed 37-year-old lived in a flush city centre apartment, costing a cool £1,000 per month in rent, and had access to "numerous vehicles, all paid for from the profits of the heroin and cocaine trade."
Sabbagh-Parry had been a car dealer in Ealing, London, but sold up his business and moved to Liverpool, where he organised the supply of Class A and B drugs on a commercial scale, destined for sale to addicts on the streets of Cardiff. He was later described in court as a "part time car trader and a career drug dealer".
