THREE people have been spared prison after being caught supplying cocaine and heroin in Gwent in 2019 and 2020.

Megan Neville, William Robertson, Kyle Raybould, and Glyn Dorrington admitted their involvement in supplying class A drugs.

On June 28, 2019, officers raided a home belonging to Neville and Dorrington, prosecutor Laurence Jones told Cardiff Crown Court. Robertson was also at the home.

There, officers found 18.71g diamorphine (heroin) worth a total of between £480 and £720, crack cocaine worth around £630, as well as class C drugs diazepam and etizolam.

The total value of the drugs was thought to be around £1,270. Officers also discovered around £2,000 in cash and mobile phones belonging to Neville and Robertson containing drug-related messages.

Robertson later admitted a separate offence of possession with intent to supply crack cocaine, on September 25, 2019.

In May 2020, officers in the Barrett Hill area of Newport saw Raybould running towards a white Nissan Juke while on the phone, and Neville was the driver.

Upon being told he would be searched, Raybould “ran away and threw a Kinder Egg on the floor,” Mr Jones said.

“He said ‘That ain’t mine’.”

Inside was £170 to £200 worth of crack cocaine. Digital scales and mobile phones containing thousands of drug-related messages were discovered in the car.

Claire Pickthall told the court that Neville, 24, had since ended her relationship with Dorrington, and was now working on rebuilding her relationship with her family.

The court heard that Robertson, 47, lived at the house owned by Dorrington and Neville rent-free, in exchange for selling drugs.

Karl Williams, representing Robertson, said: “He was a friend of Dorrington’s father, and that’s how Mr Dorrington brought him in to the position he was. He was effectively a slave locked away in that house.”  

Raybould had relapsed into his drug addiction at the end of 2019, his counsel Scott Bowen told the court.

“As his supply went up, his usage went up,” he said.

“Frankly, he didn’t care as long as he had money to buy substances for himself.”

Raybould has been in custody awaiting sentence for 20 months. He had “used that time wisely” and was now “in the best condition of his life,” Mr Bowen said. “He just wants to move on.”

Sentencing the three, Judge David Wynn Morgan said: “These organised crime groups are selling huge quantities of class A drugs in the Newport and Cardiff areas.

“Class A drugs have become a scourge in our communities.”

He noted that all three defendants had made positive steps in the time since the incidents.

“The court is particularly concerned that we are dealing with events that occurred almost three years ago,” he said. “Time has moved on.”

Neville, of Pritchard Terrace in Phillipstown, Caerphilly, was handed 18 months, suspended for two years, for each charge of possession with intent to supply diamorphine, crack cocaine, and being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine – running concurrently.

She must complete 20 days rehabilitation activity requirement, and received no separate penalty for the charges relating to the class C drugs – diazepam and etizolam.

Robertson, of Cinderhill Street in Monmouth, was sentenced to 18 months, suspended for two years for possession with intent to supply diamorphine, and two charges of possession with intent to supply crack cocaine – running concurrently. He must also complete 20 days rehabilitation activity requirement.

Raybould, 29, of Railway Close in Talywain, was given the same sentence for possession with intent to supply crack cocaine and offering to supply diamorphine, again all running concurrently. He must also complete 100 hours of unpaid work. He received no separate penalty for the charges relating to the class C drugs.

Dorrington, 30, also of Pritchard Terrace, will be sentenced in July.

A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing will be held once Dorrington has been sentenced.