Police who went to a house to assist council trading standards officers as part of an investigation into a dog breeding business found the occupier was involved in dealing cocaine.
Andrew Bradnum refused to reveal the PIN for his phone but officers were able to gain access to the device, and on it found messages relating to the buying, selling and delivery of the Class A drug - including one message where the idea of exchanging coke for oral sex was mentioned. Swansea Crown Court heard police also found an advert the defendant had posted on social media that he was looking for someone to work for him as a runner delivering drugs with the requirement that the new employee be a grafter" and "not a grass".
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Brian Simpson, prosecuting, said in March this year police assisted council trading standards officers with a search warrant at the defendant's property as part of a council investigation into a dog breeding business. He said police seized Bradnum's phone but the defendant refused to divulge its PIN - officers, however, were able to access the device and found messages which showed he had been involved in buying and selling cocaine over the previous couple of months including discussions about deliveries and collections. The court heard one message related to exchanging cocaine for oral sex. The prosecutor said police also found 28-year-old Bradnum had posted on Instagram looking for a "grafter" who wanted to earn "good money" with the requirement that he or she was "not a grass", and officers recovered a number of messages where people were offering to run drugs for him.
A search of the property uncovered £960 in cash along with a set of weighing scales, and officers also found another phone hidden in bags of rubbish - again the defendant refused to reveal the PIN but on this occasion officers were unable to crack the code. In interview Bradnum told officers he had been selling cannabis and nitrous oxide but he said the cash found in the property came from the sale of a dog.
Andrew Bradnum, of Lark Place, Penlan, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine and to possession of criminal property - the £960 in cash - when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has six previous convictions for 10 offences including production of cannabis, possession of cannabis, possession of a Class A drug, being drunk and disorderly, and possession of criminal property. The court heard this last offence from 2017 related to the transfer of £40,000 into his bank account.
Huw Davies, for Bradnum, said the defendant had worked variously as a labourer, furniture remover and window cleaner prior to the Covid pandemic when work ended. He said the father-of-one's use of drugs had increased following the death of his father and he had turned to dealing to fund his own habit. The barrister said though the defendant had advertised for somebody to work for him, there was no evidence anyone he had actually employed anyone.
With a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas judge Huw Rees sentenced Brandum to 43 months in prison comprising 43 months for the drug dealing and six months for possessing criminal property to run concurrently. He will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
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