Drug dealers jailed for £4,500 heroin stash in Bridgend

Two men have been jailed for three years each after being caught with 84g of heroin worth up to £4,500 in Bridgend.

Paul Hughes, 48, and Jonathan Walters, 47, were stopped by police on 27 May whilst being driven by Walters. As the car stopped, Hughes threw several cling film wraps out of the window into a bush.

Cardiff Crown Court heard both defendants were arrested and the wraps were recovered, containing heroin with a street value between £2,400 and £4,500. Mobile phone messages on Hughes’s device indicated both men were involved in supplying the Class A drug.

Hughes, of Oakfield Terrace, Nantymoel, Bridgend, and Walters, of HMP Cardiff, both pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply a Class A drug.

In mitigation, Ieuan Bennett said Hughes’s life had been “wrecked” by heroin use after being given the drug at a party aged 20. He quickly became addicted and ran up debts, resulting in pressure to pay them off through dealing.

Mr Bennett said Hughes feels “sorry” for supplying the same drug which has had such a negative effect on his own life. The court also heard of “tragedy” in Hughes’s life following the death of a child and leg amputation due to drug use.

Adam Sharp, representing Walters, said his client had been a heroin addict for 15 years. The former mechanic suffered an injury causing compression to his head, neck, and spine, leaving him unable to work.

Judge Rhys Rowlands sentenced both Hughes and Walters to three years imprisonment each at Cardiff Crown Court.