A drugs phone – complete with a contacts book of users – was bought and sold between dealers, a court has heard. Shane Bowen sold the dugs phone to Rhodri Manning who continued supplying customers until police executed a search warrant and seized the mobile device.
The defendants appeared at separate hearings at Swansea Crown Court to be sentenced for cocaine dealing but WalesOnline understands the phones being used by the dealers was, in fact, the same device which had simply been traded from one to the other. Both defendants have been sent to prison.
The court heard that on July 29 this year police executed a search warrant at a house in Briton Ferry where Manning was known to be residing. Officers seized a number of phones, two weighing scales, a diary containing notes, a quantity of Class C drugs, a small bag containing 0.2g of heroin, and a small bag containing 0.5g of cocaine. A subsequent search of a second property linked to the defendant turned up a baseball bat and a further set of scales. The court heard that messages on one of the phones related to the supply of cocaine – referred to as “sniff” in the text exchanges – over the previous two weeks.
The court heard that analysis of phone evidence and data showed the device had previously been used by a different user for the purposes of selling drugs, and an investigation into the identity of that earlier user led police to Bowen. Officers found Bowen had used the phone between April and July 2024 with multiple references in the messages to supplying “pure” and “bash” – slang terms for cocaine – and references to making drop-offs or deliveries. Bowen was arrested on November 18 and it then emerged he had sold the phone in early July. It is not known how much he charged for the mobile. For the latest court reports, sign up to our crime newsletter here
Rhodri John Manning, aged 34, of Neath Road, Briton Ferry, had previously pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine and to the simple possession of cocaine and heroin when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has five previous convictions for 13 offences. Shane Bowen, aged 29, of Ruskin Avenue, Sandfields, Port Talbot, had previously pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine when he returned to the dock for sentencing. He has 26 previous convictions for 38 offences including possession of cannabis with intent to supply from 2021.
Andrew Evans, for Manning, said the defendant was an “almost archetypal example of a user-dealer” with the phone messages showing he had been supplying small deals of around £30 or £40 a time. He said the defendant had no previous convictions for drug dealing and “it is with some disappointment and shame” that he comes before the courts to be sentenced. The advocate added that Manning was living with the effects of a recent violent assault in Neath, an assault for which nobody has been identified or arrested.
Dan Griffiths, for Bowen, said in the early part of 2024 the defendant found himself homeless and his life “went completely off the rails” and became chaotic. He said the defendant was “nothing but realistic about his position” and it was conceded immediate custody was inevitable.
Judge Huw Rees told Manning some communities in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot were “swimming in cocaine”, a drug which brings social discohesion and ill-health. He said the courts would do all they could to address the problem. With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas, Manning was sentenced to 32 months in prison. He will serve up to half that sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
Judge Geraint Walters told Bowen that everyone who involves themselves in Class A drug dealing knows what sentences awaits them if caught. The judge warned Bowen that unless he took steps to change he would find the best years of life were behind him with little to show for them, adding: “There’s more to life than camping out in Swansea prison, believe me”. With a one-quarter discount for his guilty plea Bowen was sentenced to three years in prison. The judge said the defendant would serve no more than half his sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community but said he was unable to say exactly how much time he would serve, adding that to get an answer to that “you will have to ask a politician”.
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