A ketamine dealer caught after being thrown out of a Port Talbot bar with a stash of the drug was found to also be involved in buying and selling cocaine, a court has heard.
A search of Luke Williams' granny's house found more than half a kilo of ket - a powerful anaesthetic drug - as well as bottles of an imported American codeine-based syrup which were marked as not for household use. The defendant's advocate said the 21-year-old had been addicted to ketamine and had welcomed being remanded into prison as it had given him the opportunity to "re-set his physical and mental health".
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Alycia Carpanini, prospecting, told Swansea Crown Court that in February this year Williams was one of two men thrown out of a bar in Port Talbot because of their behaviour. As they were ejected a number of small bags of white powder fell to the floor. Police were called and when Williams was arrested he was found to be carrying more than £300 in cash along with further bags of what turned out to be ketamine. A search of the defendant in custody uncovered another four bags of the drug hidden in his underpants.
The court heard a search warrant was subsequently carried out at Williams' grandmother's house and in a bedroom police found a River Island bag belonging to the defendant containing bags of ketamine along with weighing scales covered in a white residue. Officers also found bags of "green vegetable matter" and three bottles of a codeine-based syrup imported from America and marked as not for household use. In total more than 600g of ketamine was seized with a street value of up to £24,000.
The court heard Williams' phone was seized, and officers found his number was one they recognised - the number had previously been found in the phones of two cocaine dealers who had been caught in separate investigations the previous year. The prosecutor said it was clear from the conversations between Williams and the dealers that the defendant had been trying to source substantial amounts of cocaine.
Luke Williams, of Silver Avenue, Sandfields, Port Talbot, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of ketamine with intent to supply, being concerned in the supply of ketamine, being concerned in the supply of cocaine, possession of cannabis, and possession of codeine - a Class B drug - when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions.
Andrew Evans, for Williams, invited the court to regard the defendant as a ketamine dealer who had turned to dealing cocaine over a short period after running up more than £4,000 in debts. He said his client had been addicted to ketamine and had, perhaps unusually, welcomed being remanded into custody as it had given him the opportunity to "re-set his physical and mental health". The advocate said Williams was now on a drug-free path, and character references submitted to the court painted a very different picture of the defendant as a partner and brother.
Judge Paul Thomas KC told Williams it was clear he had had been dealing in ketamine and cocaine, and that he must have known the consequences of dealing in the Class A drug if he were to be caught. He said on the night the defendant was arrested he had been supplying ketamine in a club in Port Talbot, and that was an aggravating factor in the case. With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas Williams was sentenced to two years and four months in prison for the cocaine dealing offence and one year for the ketamine dealing offence, the sentences to run concurrently. No separate penalties were imposed for the simple possession offences. Williams will serve up to half the two years and four months in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
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