A pair of drug dealers were caught after almost crashing into an unmarked cop car carrying plain clothes police officers, a court has heard.
When police tracked down the occupants of the vehicle involved in the narrow miss - Jason Paton and Amir Khan - they found evidence the pair were involved in the supply of cocaine and cannabis. Swansea Crown Court heard that since their arrest one of the defendant's has got married and become a father again, and wants to be a better partner and dad. The other defendant is waiting for his wife to join him from overseas.
Megan Jones, prosecuting, told the court that on November 13, 2021, plain clothes police were patrolling the Penlan area of Swansea when their unmarked car was almost hit by a black Mercedes at the junction of Penmynydd Road and Penderry Road. The Mercedes sped off from the near-collision and the police car turned around and began an area search for it. A short while later the officers spotted the Mercedes parked on Heol Frank where the two occupants - later identified as Paton and Khan - where talking to the driver of a Ford Transit van. Undercover officers approached the pair and identified themselves, and the court heard there was a strong smell of cannabis in the Merc and a "large quantity" of cash. Also there was a Nokia burner phone, and police could see a message on the screen which read "3.5 mate I will go and grab some cash later opp train station".
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Police then searched Paton's nearby house, and as they did so his partner tried to leave the property with a small Nike backpack. She was stopped and searched and the bag was found to contain £5,700 in cash. In a garden shed at the address police found almost half a kilo of cannabis, empty bags, and a small hydraulic press. Further phones belonging to Paton and Khan were also seized, and were found to contain messages relating to drug dealing.
Jason Paton, aged 36, of Heol Frank, Penlan, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply, being concerned in the supply of cannabis, and being concerned in the supply of cocaine when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has 13 previous convictions for 29 offences including the production of cannabis.
Amir Khan, aged 29, of Ruperra Street, Newport, had previously pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis and being concerned in the supply of cocaine when he appeared in the dock for sentencing, He has nine previous convictions for 18 offences. In September last year he was sentenced to a total of 68 weeks in prison after leading police on a chase through residential streets in Newport which saw him speeding through red traffic lights, going the wrong way down one-way streets, and forcing other drivers to take evasive action all while he was three times over the drink-drive limit.
Andrew Evans, for Paton, said the defendant was a cannabis dealer who used cocaine and, on one occasion, had been asked to provide cocaine or "bash" to another person who was attending the Escape into the Park music festival in Swansea. The advocate said since his arrest his client had become a father again and had got married, and he said Paton wants to put the events of 2021 behind him and "be the father and partner he should have been - something he has clearly failed to do".
Steven Burnell, for Khan, said they were his instructions that the defendant had started using illicit drugs as pain relief following a serious car crash in 2018 which had then developed into using Class A drugs. He said his client was born and bred in Newport where his father ran a food takeaway business, and he said Khan has a wife in Pakistan who is waiting to join him in Wales.
Both advocates highlighted the delay in the case coming to court. With discounts for their guilty pleas judge Christopher Vosper KC sentenced Paton to a total of 32 months in prison and Khan to a total of 40 months in prison. The defendants will each serve up to half their sentences in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
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