A drug dealer led police on a high-speed chase then dumped the car and ran off into the night because he didn't want to miss his mother's funeral the next day, a court has heard. Kerry Hearne had been out selling crack cocaine in Swansea when cops tried to pull over his Mercedes. The convicted robber sped off before abandoning the vehicle – along with partner in crime and their stash of cocaine.
As well as selling cocaine Hearne was involved in dealing Valium tablets and boasted to fellow dealers who he was supplying that he had a contact involved in delivering medication to hospitals who could provide him with stock. Sian Cutter, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that the pursuit happened on the night of September 16 this year after police signalled for a Mercedes which was not being driven "to a very good standard" in Swansea city centre. The vehicle responded by racing off, going through a red light at the busy Dyfatty junction, and heading out of town on Llangyfelach Road.
With the police car following the fleeing Mercedes went through Brynhyfryd, Treboeth, and Llangyfelach – on occasions travelling on the wrong side of the carriageway at high speed – then went the wrong way around the roundabout at junction 46 of the M4 before heading for Morriston. The court heard the police deployed a stinger tyre-puncturing device near Morriston Golf Club in Clasemont Road which stopped the Mercedes. At this point the driver, later identified as Hearne, exited the vehicle and ran off into nearby gardens.
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The prosecutor said when officers arrived on scene moments later they found 38-year-old Sophie Webster sat in the passenger seat of the Mercedes. She refused to get out and police managed to pull her out of the vehicle. She was initially taken to hospital where she revealed she had a stash of drugs in her leggings. Police subsequently recovered more than 155g of cocaine with a street value of around £16,500 from her trousers. The court heard another 39g of the drug was found in the stranded Mercedes and a number of phones were also recovered.
Miss Cutter said when questioned Webster told officers the driver of the car had instructed her to hide the drugs down her leggings. A subsequent search of Webster's house revealed £1,000 in cash hidden in the cooker hood in the kitchen. Read about a woman who made crack cocaine in the kitchen of her home and sold it to addicts through the window.
Hearne was arrested five days later after being found hiding in a wardrobe at an address in Swansea and his phone was seized. In his interview he denied being the driver of the Mercedes on the night in question, saying someone had stolen his keys and was using his identity. The court heard the 32-year-old was identified as the shorts-wearing man seen running from the Mercedes – in part thanks to a distinctive tattoo on his leg.
The court heard when all the seized phones were examined there were numerous messages relating to the supply of cocaine and Valium including exchanges between the defendants where Hearne talked about the "easy money" to be made selling drugs in Swansea. In other texts Hearne offered Webster to fellow dealers to work for them while in others Hearne boasted he had a contact who made deliveries to hospitals who could source quantities of "Vals" for him.
Kerry Liam Hearne, of Heol Llwyn Bedw, Hendy, Pontarddulais, admitted possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply, being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine, being concerned in offering to supply diazepam, dangerous driving, and driving while disqualified. He has 22 previous convictions for 43 offences including being concerned in the supply of Class A and B drugs and four offences of driving while disqualified. In 2018 he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison after acting as a getaway driver during a bank robbery in Neath.
Sophie Webster, of Clos Madlen, Fforestfach, Swansea, admitted possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply, being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine, and being concerned in offering to supply diazepam when she appeared alongside her co-defendant. She has no previous convictions.
Hannah George, for Hearne, said after her client had been released from his last term of imprisonment he found he had inherited a drug debt from another male and was "in a £75k hole". She said the police pursuit occurred the night before Hearne's mother was due to be buried and he drove the way he did because "he knew his time was up and he wanted to attend his mother's funeral". The barrister added that her client had a 10-year-old son and was waiting to start the 12-step addiction programme while in custody.
Andrew Evans, for Webster, said his client had suffered a series of bereavements along with a range of health problems and led a "reclusive life lived online, lived on Facebook". He said Webster and Hearne had become friends online and the co-defendant had then recruited his client to the drugs business though the advocate said she had been "eager to please" and he accepted Webster was "a willing participant" in the enterprise.
Judge Paul Thomas KC said it was clear the defendants were involved in a substantial Class A drug-dealing operation. With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas Hearn was sentenced to six months in prison for dangerous driving, 44 months for the Class A drug offences to run consecutively, and to two months for the diazepam offence to run concurrently making an overall sentence of 50 months. He will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. Hearne was also disqualified from driving for two years with the ban extended by an extra 25 months to allow for the time he will be behind bars. He will have to pass an extended test before he can get his licence back.
With a one-quarter discount for her guilty pleas, which were entered later that Hearne's, Webster was sentenced to 33 months in prison for the Class A drug offences and to two months for the diazepam offence to run concurrently making an overall sentence of 33 months. She will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. South Wales Police was unable to provide a custody photography of Webster as she was charged via postal requisition.
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