Jonathan Yeandle (Image: South Wales Police)
Last Updated: 2 minutes ago
A dealer who was chased down and arrested on Prince of Wales Road picked up a new phone and carried on selling once police let him out on bail, texting customers that he was “available all night”.
Jonathan Yeandle, 26, has now been jailed for 44 months at Swansea Crown Court.
Back in business on bail
Yeandle was first arrested on 23 March this year. He gave “no comment” answers throughout his interview and was released on bail while officers worked through the contents of a phone he had thrown away during the chase.
On 13 July, once that download had been completed, police picked him up for a second time. He was carrying £460 in cash and a handset running the “AK” drugs line. Once again, he answered “no comment” to everything put to him.
That second phone told its own story. Yeandle had been firing out bulk messages to users, announcing he was “available all night” and claiming to be selling “the best in the f****** city”.
The chase
Prosecutor Regan Walters explained how it all began on the afternoon of 23 March, when officers noticed eight known drug users gathered around two men on Prince of Wales Road. Suspecting deals were being done, they moved in. The crowd scattered and both men ran off in the direction of Dyfatty junction.
One of them, Kian Meredith, was found crouched behind parked cars with wraps of cocaine at his feet.
Yeandle took a different route, crossing a footbridge into nearby residential streets and shedding his jacket and phone along the way. Officers tracked him down and detained him. He had two wraps of cocaine on him, and when police walked back over his escape route they recovered a discarded burner phone and its battery.
Previous record
Jonathan James Yeandle, formerly of Griffith John Street in Dyfatty but now of no fixed abode, admitted being concerned in the supply of crack, being concerned in the supply of cocaine, possession of crack with intent to supply, and possession of criminal property.
He has four previous convictions for five offences. In February 2025 he was jailed for 30 weeks over a gang attack on a cyclist close to the Full Moon pub on Swansea’s High Street. When he was dealing in March this year, he was still subject to a conditional discharge handed down in July 2025 for simple possession of cocaine.
Defence arguments
Alexandra Wilson, defending, said paperwork before the court set out the “hurdles and difficulties” Yeandle had faced, and that he had taken responsibility for what he had done in a letter to the judge.
She said that after losing friends to suicide and losing his job as a window fitter, her client “lost all purpose in life” and became dependent on alcohol and drugs as an “emotional crutch”. His time on remand had been “fruitful”, she said, giving him the chance to detox and get the support he needed.
Sentencing
Recorder Paul Lewis KC noted that both Yeandle and Meredith had been seen by police on Prince of Wales Road and caught after foot chases.
He said he had heard that Yeandle was remorseful, but pointed out that no remorse had been on show when he stayed silent through two police interviews. The recorder said the offending was made worse by the fact Yeandle was on a conditional discharge at the time and had kept dealing after being released on bail.
With credit for his guilty pleas, Yeandle was sentenced to 44 months in prison. He will spend up to half of that in custody before being released on licence for the remainder.
Meredith
Meredith, from Townhill, has already been jailed for three years and eight months for possession of cocaine with intent to supply. He had previously served a prison sentence for his part in the “Jack” drugs line, which supplied significant quantities of heroin and cocaine across Swansea.
