Drug dealer jailed after 90mph chase through Blackwood

A 21-year-old cocaine dealer has been jailed for three years after leading officers on a dangerous high-speed chase through Blackwood before crashing and trying to escape on foot.

The chase

Gwent Police officers noticed a Vauxhall Astra they believed was displaying false number plates at around 11pm on September 13. When they signalled for the vehicle to pull over, driver Harvey Goff refused to stop and accelerated away.

What followed was a reckless pursuit through residential streets, with Goff reaching speeds of up to 90mph in a 30mph zone. He drove the wrong way around a roundabout and flew straight through a junction without any attempt to slow down.

Officers deployed a stinger device which punctured the Astra’s tyres, but Goff kept going until he eventually lost control and ploughed into a bollard on a roundabout.

He abandoned the wrecked vehicle and ran from the scene.

What police found

A search of the car uncovered £30 worth of cocaine in the centre console along with a mobile phone containing messages linked to drug dealing.

Goff didn’t get far. Members of the public contacted officers after the defendant turned up in their back garden, telling them he had crashed his car. He was arrested with £140 in cash on him, and a police dog searching the garden recovered a bag containing digital weighing scales and empty snap bags.

Further checks confirmed Goff had been disqualified from driving at the time of the pursuit, meaning he was also uninsured.

The charges

Goff, of Llwyn on Crescent in Oakdale, admitted possession with intent to supply cocaine, being concerned in the supply of cocaine, possession of criminal property, dangerous driving, driving whilst disqualified, and driving without insurance.

He had two previous convictions for five offences, all related to driving matters.

Mitigation

His representative, Kevin Seal, told the court that Goff had experienced difficulties during his upbringing which led to a drug addiction.

“He finds the easiest way to deal with these problems is either to take drugs or to sell drugs which he needs to fund his own habit,” he said.

Mr Seal suggested it was perhaps the best outcome for Goff that he was caught so he could reassess the direction his life was taking. He added that the defendant had already begun taking steps in custody to tackle his addiction.

“Certainly he understands that driving a car in the way that he did jeopardises other road users and jeopardises pedestrians,” he said.

Sentencing

Recorder Andrew Hammond did not hold back when addressing Goff directly.

“Clearly you are a menace to the residents of Blackwood,” he told the defendant.

Goff was sentenced to a total of three years in prison. He was also banned from driving for 38 months and ordered to pass an extended retest before he can get behind the wheel again.