Graham Price (Image: Gwent Police)
Last Updated: 2 minutes ago
A dealer who was caught with 1.5kg of cocaine, £81,000 in cash and a £40,000 Rolex in his bedroom has been told to surrender every penny of the £475,000 he made from the drugs trade.
Back before a judge
Graham Price, 36, returned to Newport Crown Court for a proceeds of crime hearing, where the court put a figure on what his offending had earned him. Judge Vanessa Francis made an order requiring him to pay back the full £475,000.
Should he fail to produce the money within the period set by the court, a further four years will be added to his sentence – a term that would run consecutively to the one he is currently serving.
Defence barrister Clare Wilks told the hearing that part of what her client holds is tied up in cryptocurrency, alongside a “property that might have to be sold”.
The raid
Price’s arrest came when officers arrived at his home in Farmwood Close on the morning of Tuesday, June 3, 2025.
Prosecutor Andrew Davies told the earlier sentencing hearing what was waiting inside: two blocks of cocaine, the substantial quantity of cash and the luxury watch. Officers also seized a pair of burner phones, plus a Google handset that Price declined to unlock for them.
Guilty pleas
He admitted possessing a class A drug with intent to supply and two further counts of possessing criminal property. The court was told he had never been in trouble before.
A “secret life”
Mitigating at the sentencing hearing, Miss Wilks said a substantial body of character references had been submitted by those who knew Price.
“These references paint a very different picture of Mr Price,” she said.
“He’s not the usual type of man being sentenced in the crown court.
“The defendant was leading something of a secret life.
“It seems the prospect of making quick money was too much for him to resist – it was a complete lapse of judgement on his behalf.”
The former Network Rail employee, described in court as an intelligent man and a devoted father to his teenage son, had come into a redundancy payout running to thousands of pounds in October 2023.
Sentencing
Passing sentence, Judge Daniel Williams said:
“You were minding the drugs on behalf of another.
“Clearly, there was a lot going on in your life at the time – more than this court is ever likely to know.”
Price was jailed for four years and four months and told he would serve half that term in custody before being released on licence.
