Couple jailed after police find cocaine and weapons in car

A drug-dealing couple have been jailed after police stopped their Range Rover and discovered cocaine, cash, and weapons.

Nicholas Anderson, 36, of no fixed abode, and Rebecca Welton, 36, of North Stoke Lane, North Stoke, Bath, were sentenced to three years in prison each at Swansea Crown Court after admitting possession of cocaine with intent to supply.

On 17 April this year, police stopped a Range Rover in Pelcomb on the outskirts of Haverfordwest. Welton was driving with Anderson in the passenger seat and three children in the back.

When officers searched Anderson, they found small bags of white powder in his pocket and arrested him. Welton was then told she would be searched, and she told officers: “He told me to hide it.”

She then produced a rolled-up carrier bag from down the front of her jeans containing a dozen grip-seal bags of cocaine and a 17g block of “partially compressed” cocaine, with a total value of up to £1,700.

A search of the Range Rover uncovered two sets of weighing scales with traces of white powder, £815 in cash, and a burner phone in the glove box.

Police then searched a house Welton was renting near Aberystwyth, where they found more than £1,200 in cash, empty snap-seal bags, three notebooks appearing to be dealer’s lists, and 10 mobile phones. Officers also discovered two air rifles, a crowbar, a lock knife, and an “old revolver and bullets”.

A further search of Welton’s parents’ address in Somerset recovered £4,200 in cash in a Tupperware container, which Welton had apparently asked to be kept safe “in case something happened to her boyfriend”.

Police recovered WhatsApp messages between the defendants showing Welton was aware Anderson was “involved in drugs and criminality in general”. In one exchange, Anderson messaged “So f***ing bored – need some violence”, to which Welton replied “stay safe baby xxx love you, my king xxx”. In other messages, Anderson told his partner “Pigs [police] beating the door” and “Feds [police] outside”.

Anderson also told Welton about “travellers from Swansea” being in the area to source cannabis, and police recovered text exchanges from the day of their arrest discussing drug deliveries to a Haverfordwest postcode.

In interview, Anderson gave a prepared statement saying all the drugs were his and for personal use, while Welton denied any involvement in drugs.

Jon Tarrant, defending Anderson, said his client had spent seven months on remand, during which time he had completed 17 courses and addressed mental health issues.

Sarah John, defending Welton, said her client was a mother-of-four with no previous convictions who had made mistakes, and that Anderson had been a “negative influence” on her. References submitted to the court showed people who knew Welton well had expressed shock and sadness at the path her life had taken.

Judge Geraint Walters said class A drugs were a “scourge on society” and there was not a dealer in the country who didn’t know the kind of sentence awaiting them if caught.

He said it was clear Anderson had been the “leading light” in the operation, while Welton had been a “willing, enthusiastic participant” in the “murky world of drug supply”.

With discounts for their guilty pleas, the defendants were each sentenced to three years in prison. They will serve up to half their sentences in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.