A Swansea man has been jailed for almost five years for laundering £125,000 in criminal-obtained money. Much of the money is believed to have come from dog breeder, pub owner and car dealer Robert Norris’s connections with the drugs world.
Swansea Crown Court heard Norris involved his partner in his money laundering operation during the course of their toxic and abusive relationship, meaning she too ended up in the dock. After being handed his prison sentence, Norris was disruptive in the dock and shouted abuse at the judge, resulting in him being charged with contempt – he will return to court on Monday to be punished for that matter.
The court heard that Norris came to the attention of police in May, 2021, after masked men robbed a van which was stationary at Dyfatty traffic lights in Swansea. The robbers used crow bars to smash the windows of the van and stole a bag from the passenger before speeding off in a waiting car.
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It later emerged that the van was being operated by an organised crime group involved in the drugs trade and the stolen bag contained £106,000 in cash which members of the London-based gang had just collected after dropping off a consignment of 3kg of cocaine in Swansea.
The robbery led police to launch Operation Tilbury which resulted in the gang being taken down – you can read about Operation Tilbury here. One of the masked robbers was subsequently identified, charged, convicted and jailed. That man was Jonathan Norris, the brother of the defendant Robert Norris. Jonathan Norris was sentenced to nine years in prison for his part in what the judge called an “audacious” robbery.
Following the robbery, police began examining the finances of Robert Norris and discovered a “spate” of cash deposits into his bank accounts immediately after the Dyfatty incident. The court heard the prosecution did not say Robert Norris was part of the robbery but that the money taken during the smash-and-grab raid was linked to him through his brother and that “whether the money [paid into his account] was from the robbery or was linked to the drugs trade” was not a significant point.
The court heard that investigators looked through six years of the defendant’s accounts and identified around a quarter-of-a-million pounds in unexplained deposits which were of interest but that, by the defendant’s pleas, it was accepted that the actual figure for sentencing purposes was £128,000.
The court heard the investigation also found that more than £45,000 had been paid into Norris’s then-partner Natalie McBride’s bank account in the form of cash deposits and bank transfers. Much of the money was subsequently transferred from her account into Norris’s accounts.
In his police interview Norris denied money laundering, saying the money came from dog breeding, owning pubs, and buying and selling cars and car parts. In her interview, McBride accepted receiving transfers and deposits of cash, saying Norris made his money from “cars, clubs and drugs” and it was “well-known” that he was involved in drugs and that was why she eventually ended the relationship. For the latest court reports, sign up to our crime newsletter here
Robert Norris, aged 42, of Neath Road, Plasmarl, Swansea, and 35-year-old Natalie McBride, of Cadle Close, Portmead, Swansea, had both previously pleaded guilty to possession of criminal property when they appeared in the dock for sentencing. Norris has 43 previous convictions for 147 offences including 61 theft and kindred matters and 12 fraud matters. He also has a conviction for harassing his now former partner. McBride has no previous convictions.
Barrister Mr Bowen, for Norris, said that while there had been a significant number of deposits and transfers into his client’s accounts, the maximum amount in any one calendar year had been £46,000 and that was a reflection of the fact that the court was “not dealing with a professional money laundering who was laundering money for an organised crime group”. The barrister pointed to the delay in the case with his client having first been arrested in 2021 but not charged until January, 2024, and he said Norris was concerned about the impact of an immediate custodial sentence on his teenager daughter and on his parents.
Kate Williams, for McBride, said her client had been brought into the offending by her partner during their abusive and “toxic” relationship. She said the defendant said it was “common knowledge that he [Norris] was involved in the drugs world” and the defendant was disappointed she had allowed herself to get involved.
Judge Paul Thomas KC said over a period of six years Norris had laundered well over £100,000 of criminally-acquired money, and he noted a “significant spike” in financial activity following the Dyfatty robbery. He told the defendant: “You made a lot of money laundering money linked to drugs”.
Addressing McBride, the judge said she had been “dragged into criminal activity” by her partner and allowed him to use her bank account to transfer the proceeds of criminal conduct, “and in particular drug dealing”. Judge Thomas said he had no doubt that but for the relationship with Norris, McBride would not have involved herself in such conduct.
With a 15% discount for his guilty plea – a plea entered a fortnight before he was due to stand trial – Norris was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison. He will serve up to half that sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
Norris was disruptive in the dock as the sentence was handed down and started shouting abuse, including saying: “They are all corrupt b******* like this f****** lot”. Judge Thomas told Norris he had had been charged with contempt and ordered him to return to the dock on Monday to be sentenced for that matter. McBride was made the subject of a 12-month community order and was ordered to complete a rehabilitation course and to complete 150 hours of unpaid work in the community.
Speaking after the sentencing, South Wale Police detective inspector Richard George said: “Such was the strength of evidence against Norris and McBride that they had little option other than to plead guilty to their crimes. This represents a successful conclusion to a long and protracted investigation which was conducted diligently between our organised crime teams, economic cyber crime team, dedicated financial manager and analyst team, which has targeted those who profit from criminality.
“I hope that sends a strong message to those who think they are above the law, and who see associated criminality as a way to make quick and substantial amounts of money. It is only a matter of time until criminals such as these are caught and we will work tirelessly, alongside our partners, to ensure that they are brought to justice.”
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