📱 A Newport drugs boss was caught in the act as he desperately tried to flush a burner phone down the toilet when police raided his home.
Corey Barnett, 29, who had only recently been released from a nine-year prison sentence for trafficking heroin, was back to his old ways – this time directing others in the sale of cocaine throughout Gwent.
The operation unravelled when police stopped a car on Witham Street in Newport last December, arresting two men with cocaine and cash. A phone seized from them linked directly to Barnett, who was “directing” their drug-selling activities, Cardiff Crown Court heard.
When officers arrived at Barnett’s home, they heard the sound of a toilet being flushed. After gaining entry, they discovered a Nokia burner phone in the toilet pan – a desperate last-minute attempt to destroy evidence.
Police also found an iPhone at his Bessemer Drive address, putting him in breach of a serious crime prevention order that prohibited him from owning two mobile phones.
“Sadly, he took the opportunity of the offer to direct others, in the manner described by the prosecution,” his barrister Byron Broadstock told the court. The defence explained that Barnett had struggled to find work after prison and faced “significant delay” in receiving benefits.
Judge Eugene Egan told Barnett: “You are subject to the minimum term provisions under the relevant legislation, as you know.”
The judge sentenced him to just over five-and-a-half years (2,045 days) in prison, with half to be served in custody. Barnett must also pay a victim surcharge following his release, and both mobile phones were ordered to be destroyed.
