Townhill drug dealers jailed after boasting about drugs

Two young drug dealers from Swansea have been jailed after police caught them dealing cannabis, cocaine and crack cocaine – with one bragging he was selling “best white in town”.

Joshua Tobin, 19, and Joshua Chappell, 21, were arrested on November 3 after officers spotted their vehicles in Dyfed Avenue, Townhill. Police had intelligence linking the cars to vehicle thefts.

Newport Crown Court heard that a grey VW Polo deliberately slowed down and obstructed police, preventing them from following a red Fiat Punto that was speeding away. The Punto was later found parked in Cockett with Chappell at the wheel and Tobin as a passenger.

Officers smelled cannabis and searched the vehicle, finding seven wraps of cannabis in Chappell’s trousers along with £135 in cash. A roadside drugs test showed he was positive for cannabis.

Messages on Chappell’s phone revealed his involvement in supplying cannabis, including prices for various weights and references to strains he was selling such as lemon cherry gelato. Police also found Snapchat videos showing him riding in a stolen BMW in the Maritime Quarter at 5am on October 23.

Tobin’s phone showed him dealing cannabis, cocaine and crack cocaine, with messages in which he boasted he was selling “best white in town”.

Both defendants had previous convictions for drug trafficking, with Tobin already serving a two-year suspended sentence for dealing cocaine and cannabis from March this year.

David Leathley, defending Chappell, said his client had a two-year-old son and was “grappling with fatherhood at a very tender age”. He wanted to move to Herefordshire to live and work with his brother.

Giles Hayes, defending Tobin, said his client’s parents had been “very familiar with the criminal justice system” and he had been taken from their care at an early age. He said Tobin had got an education and a job thanks to an aunt, but then began “associating with a group of individuals in the Townhill area who did not have a work ethic, and who behaved in socially unacceptable ways” and “he fell into bad ways”.

Tobin was sentenced to 28 months in prison, with Judge Daniel Williams activating 14 months of his suspended sentence to run consecutively – making an overall sentence of four-and-a-half years.

Chappell, who also pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified, driving with no insurance, and allowing himself to be carried in a stolen car, was jailed for 14 months.

Both will serve up to half their sentences in custody before being released on licence.

Chappell, of Elphin Crescent, Townhill, had six previous convictions for 13 offences including dangerous driving, battery, and dealing heroin and crack cocaine. Tobin, of Gwynedd Avenue, Townhill, had three previous convictions for four offences.