Brothers jailed for buying £820k drugs from crime boss

Two brothers and their co-defendant have been jailed for a combined 29 years after they jointly bought class A drugs worth more than £820,000 from a Newport kingpin.

Mathew Ford and Gavin Ford, along with Lewis Marshall, were being supplied by Newport crime boss Robert Andrews Jr with “industrial amounts” of cocaine and heroin. The trio were linked to Andrews when he stored on his phone the amounts of money they owed him after they bought drugs from him “on tick”.

Daniel Jones, prosecuting, told Newport Crown Court that multiple kilos were involved. Mathew Ford purchased £397,500 worth of cocaine, Gavin Ford bought £265,000 of heroin, and Marshall acquired £159,000 of cocaine. These drugs were then being sold on to users throughout South Wales.

The Ford brothers pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply a class A drug on 14 June 2023. Marshall, aged 30, of Aberthaw Road, Newport, admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine in Risca between 24 May 2023 and 24 August 2023. He has previous convictions for possession with intent to supply cannabis and production of the class B drug.

Martha Smith-Higgins, representing Marshall, a labourer and father of a six-year-old daughter, said: “There are a bundle of references which speak highly of this defendant.”

Harry Baker, for the Fords, told the court: “They are both lightly convicted and they are both family men who are sorry for what they have done. This has been their first taste of custody.” Neither brother had any relevant previous convictions.

Judge Carl Harrison told the three defendants: “The supply of class A drugs fuels addiction and it blights the lives of those who consume them and it sometimes ends their lives. There was the expectation of significant financial gain in all of your cases.”

Mathew Ford, aged 36, of Excelsior Terrace, Maerdy, Ferndale, Rhondda Cynon Taf, and Gavin Ford, aged 37, of New Street, Ferndale, Rhondda Cynon Taf, were both jailed for 11 years and two months. Marshall was sent to prison for seven years.

They are all due to face a proceeds of crime hearing next year. Andrews, 34, of Colston Place, Newport, was jailed for 14 years and eight months in September.