A Swansea roofer who ploughed all his savings into his partner’s dream of opening a cafe in Clacton returned to his old way of dealing cocaine when the relationship ended, a court has heard. When police searched Sean Phillips’ house they found his stash of coke in bags in the oven and £1,000 in cash in the cupboard.
Swansea Crown Court heard it is the second time the 37-year-old defendant had been caught dealing in the Class A drug. In 2011 he was sentenced to 54 months in prison for being concerned in the supply of cocaine. Sending him back to prison a judge the memory of that conviction seemed to have faded from the defendant’s memory.
Brian Simpson, prosecuting, told the court that on October 1 this year police went to an address in the Penlan area of Swansea where they found the defendant and a male unconnected to their investigation. Officers asked Philips if there were any drugs at the address and he replied “in the kitchen”. The court heard that in the oven police found 27g of cocaine in bags along with weighing scales and empty snap-seal bags while in a kitchen cupboard they found £1,000 in cash. Also in the kitchen was a tub of creatine – a common cutting or mixing agent used when preparing drug deals – and more snap-seal bags. Police found a further £200 in cash in a bedroom and £115 in the defendant’s van which was parked outside.
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The court heard Phillips provided officers with the PIN for his phone and an examination of the device found messages sent and received over the preceding two weeks related to the sale of cocaine or “pure” with one customer owing the defendant £870 for drugs he had supplied. In one message the defendant told a contact he had “enough stuff to last a year”. Phillips subsequently answered “no comment” to all questions asked in interview. For the latest court reports, sign up to our crime newsletter here.
Sean Phillips, of Heol Frank, Penlan, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has two previous convictions for four offences, and in 2011 was sentenced to 54 months in prison for being concerned in the supply of cocaine and a Class drug. The court heard that due to the age of the conviction no details of the offending were available.
Vince Williams, for Phillips, said they were his instructions that after being released from prison some years ago the defendant went back to work as a roofer and through that employment was able to amass savings of £12,000. He said his client’s partner wanted to open a café in Clacton and Phillips invested his savings in the business along with borrowing an additional £30,000 but when the relationship ended he found himself in debt and bankrupt which led to depression and then drug use. The barrister said Phillips then took the “foolish and wrong decision” to return to dealing as a way of generating money.
Judge Paul Thomas KC said in October this year Phillips was found dealing cocaine for the second time in his life, and messages on his phone revealed the scale of his dealing. He said Phillips had previously served a 54 month sentence but that “the memory of that seems to have faded” – though he noted the defendant had had the good sense to plead guilty to the new offence. With a one-third discount for his guilty plea Phillips was sentenced to four years in prison. He will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
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