Swansea cannabis dealer spared jail after Snapchat adverts

A Swansea man who used Snapchat to offer cannabis for sale has avoided an immediate prison term, with a judge warning him that his responsibilities to his two children must now come first.

Andrew Bradnum, 31, of Lark Place in Blaenymaes, received 18 months in prison suspended for 18 months when he returned to Swansea Crown Court to be sentenced.

The sentence

As well as the suspended term, Bradnum must complete:

• a drug rehabilitation requirement
• a probation requirement
• a 90-day alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement
• 150 hours of unpaid work in the community

Judge’s warning

Judge Huw Rees said a sentence of around 18 months in custody was appropriate, and that the only real question was whether it had to be served straight away.

The judge admitted he was unsure whether he was doing the right thing. He said he had nevertheless decided to give Bradnum an opportunity, and urged him to concentrate on being a parent.

Judge Rees told him:

Messages on a phone

Prosecutor Brian Simpson told the court the investigation began on 25 March this year. Officers in Swansea stopped and searched a person known to use drugs, and checked their phone. On it were Snapchat messages offering cannabis for sale.

The number the messages came from was linked to Bradnum’s mother. However, clues in photographs that had been sent out allowed police to identify Bradnum himself as the sender.

The search

Three days later, on 28 March, officers carried out a search warrant at a property in Blaenymaes. They recovered:

• one wrap of cannabis
• £540 in cash
• a quantity of empty snap-seal plastic bags

When he was later interviewed, Bradnum gave a “no comment” answer to every question put to him.

Previous dealing

The court heard Bradnum has seven previous convictions covering 12 offences, six of them for drugs matters.

In May 2023 he was sentenced to 43 months in prison for being concerned in the supply of cocaine. That case came to light when police and council trading standards officers visited his home as part of an inquiry into a dog breeding business, and found he was dealing the Class A drug.

Bradnum refused to hand over the PIN for his phone at the time, but officers still got into the device. They found messages about buying, selling and delivering cocaine, one of which mentioned the idea of exchanging the drug for oral sex.

Officers also discovered an advert he had posted on social media looking for someone to act as a runner delivering drugs for him. The recruit, it stated, had to be a “grafter” and “not a grass”.

Defence plea

Sarah John, representing Bradnum, said his offending was rooted in his own long-standing drug misuse. She told the court his father had been a drug user, and that drug-taking had been “normalised” during his childhood. As a result, she said, he first tried controlled substances at the age of 12.

Ms John said the latest offending was limited to a small number of messages. She added that her instructions were that the father-of-two would comply with any requirements the court chose to impose.