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Men jailed over heroin shipment

Submitted by admin on Sunday, 25 October 2009

A man said to be the “driving force” behind a shipment of heroin to Pembrokeshire and his supplier have been jailed for seven years each.

Daniel McKenzie, 38, of Neyland, traded in drugs even though his son had fallen into a coma after overdosing on methadone, Swansea Crown Court heard.

He bought the heroin from Bristol-based supplier Anthony Pinnock, 33.

Four other people were also sentenced for their role in the trade described as “vile” by the judge, Peter Heywood.

Gareth Evans, 42, and David Freelove, 41, both of Haverfordwest, were described in court as McKenzie’s foot soldiers and were jailed for six and four years respectively.

Ian Wilkins, 32, also of Haverfordwest, and Catrina Luke, 27, of Merlin’s Bridge, were made the subject of drug test and treatment orders.

The court heard that as police closed in on McKenzie he walked into Pembroke Dock police station and made officers an offer – if they moved his son to a house in Pembroke he would supply the details of at least 10 drug dealers.

Dyfed-Powys Police turned him down and a short while later arrested him and five others.

All six either admitted or were found guilty after a trial of conspiring to supply heroin.
Passing sentence Judge Heywood said in the course of his duties he liaised with magistrates from west Wales and was well aware of the drugs situation in towns like Pembroke.

He was also aware, he added, of the “catastrophic damage” caused by heroin and of the offending by users who needed to finance their habits.

“It is a vile trade and those tempted to join it must be deterred,” he said.

McKenzie was described as the controlling force behind the conspiracy and Judge Heywood said he noted that McKenzie had continued to deal in heroin despite the tragedy that had befallen his son.

During the trial of McKenzie, Pinnock and Evans, prosecutor Jim Davis told how police kept McKenzie’s home under surveillance for four months during 2008 and logged his frequent trips to Bristol.

Within minutes of his return to Neyland, Freelove and Evans turned up to begin distributing the drugs around the area.

Speaking after the case superintendent Reg Bevan of Dyfed-Powys Police said: “Although we are involved in some excellent partnership work undertaken around prevention and education, enforcement is still at the forefront of what we do.

“These individuals have caused misery to our communities by targeting the vulnerable and supplying them with drugs.

“It is well known that drug use often leads to other crime and although Pembrokeshire is a low crime area I am convinced these dealers led others to committing low level crime to fund their drug habits.”