A drug dealer who ran from a car was found with heroin and crack cocaine after he was hunted down and bitten by a sniffer dog. The heroin was discovered after a man found a McDonald's bag containing the drugs on his drive
Dalton Raffell, 21, was being driven in a car in Rhymney, Caerphilly, at 11.35pm on October 30, 2020, while being followed by police. He jumped out of the car from a rear door as it was moving, along with two other men, with the driver of the Skoda Octavia left behind.
An officer approached the door and could smell cannabis emanating from the car. The driver was arrested and the search began for the other men. A sentencing hearing at Newport Crown Court on Wednesday heard a sniffer dog was brought to assist with the search and Raffell was found hiding in some bushes but then ran across some gardens.
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The search continued and the defendant was apprehended and arrested but he became nervous and fidgety and sprinted down the embankment to hide evidence. The dog was released and bit Raffell at the bottom of the embankment. He was handcuffed and searched, with an officer finding £1,813 in cash.
Prosecutor Nuhu Gobir said the defendant was also found with a small amount of cannabis but a further search located 83 wraps of crack cocaine. He was taken to the police station and the following morning a resident living near to where the defendant was arrested, found a McDonald's bag on his drive.
When handed to the police it was found to contain 20g of heroin, 25.1g of crack cocaine and a set of scales, which were forensically linked to Raffell. The total value of the drugs were found were £5,340. Messages on his phone also provided evidence he was involved in drug dealing.
The defendant, of Mostyn Road, Ely, Cardiff, pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to supply controlled drugs of class A, and possession of criminal property. The court heard Raffell was on licence for a sentence of four years detention after being convicted of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Solicitor-advocate Derrick Gooden said his client was still a young man and due to become a father. He said the defendant did not have the most "beneficial of upbringings" and experienced difficulties with family and his own behaviour. The court was also told Raffell struggled to cope with his release from prison in May 2020, during the height of the Covid lockdown and became addicted to crack cocaine.
Sentencing, Judge Richard Williams said: "I hope you reach the conclusion that the way you have been is no good for you. You have already had a four-year sentence and you're getting a long one today. You won't be able to be the dad you want to be if you spend your child's life in jail." Raffell was sentenced to a total of four years and six months imprisonment.
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