Keoma Favourite (Image: South Wales Police)
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A 21-year-old from London has been sentenced to 28 months in prison after plain-clothes police officers caught him dealing Class A drugs in Swansea.
Keoma Favourite, of no fixed abode, had travelled to the city and rented an Airbnb property for the sole purpose of selling cocaine and crack cocaine, Swansea Crown Court heard.
Sentencing
Judge Geraint Walters said Favourite had effectively been caught red-handed by officers from Swansea’s organised crime team “in an area known to be a haven for those who use and sell drugs”.
He told the court the supply of Class A drugs “blights the streets of this community” and said such offending almost invariably attracts an immediate custodial sentence.
The judge said that despite Favourite’s claims to the contrary, it was obvious he was part of a county lines operation. He also noted the defendant had refused to allow access to his phones, adding that he could not understand why police had not charged him with refusing to reveal the pins.
With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas, Favourite was sentenced to 28 months in prison. He will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence.
The judge ordered the forfeiture of £1,780 in cash found at the property and directed it be given to South Wales Police’s organised crime team to assist “in their daily battle, continued battle, against those would wish to cause harm on our streets by supplying Class A drugs”.
The operation
On March 25, officers from the organised crime team were patrolling the St Helen’s area of Swansea in an unmarked police car when they spotted a group of people that included a number of known Class A drug users.
Prosecutor Caitlin Brazel told the court the group was seen making its way into an alley where a suspected drugs exchange took place. Officers continued to watch as a male unknown to them – later identified as Favourite – walked to a nearby house, stayed briefly, then emerged back onto the street. At that point, the officers moved in and detained him.
Favourite refused to give officers his name. When searched, he was found to have 61 wraps of cocaine concealed in a cigarette packet in his underpants.
The evidence
A search of the property Favourite had been seen entering and leaving uncovered a further 326 wraps of crack cocaine and cocaine, along with £1,780 in cash and three mobile phones. The total value of drugs recovered amounted to almost £4,000.
Favourite refused to reveal the pin codes for his devices, and the court heard that officers have been unable to access or download them. Police believe he was involved in a north London-based county lines drug dealing operation, but Favourite refused to engage with officers in custody and remained silent during interview.
Defence
Emily Bennett, representing Favourite, said her client had been “very upfront” with the author of the pre-sentence report, admitting he had come to Swansea and rented the Airbnb for the sole purpose of selling Class A drugs to make money. She said that despite police and prosecution suspicions, he maintained he was acting alone.
The barrister told the court Favourite had grown up in the care system from a young age and that family members he was in touch with knew nothing of his current situation. She described him as “a young man a long way from home”.
Ms Bennett said Favourite held a Btec qualification in sports science and hoped to complete an English GCSE while in custody, which would allow him to study to become a chiropractor. She said the offending was out of character.
Favourite, of no fixed abode, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply and possession of criminal property – namely cash. He has no previous convictions.
