A DRUGS runner delivering crack cocaine and heroin to Newtown has been spared immediate jail time.

James Alexander Wilson was found in possession of nearly £3,000 of the Class A drugs when he was stopped by police entering Newtown on October 28, 2018. The 23-year-old was delivering the drugs from Liverpool to an address in the Powys town as a means of paying off a debt, Mold Crown Court heard on Tuesday (January 19).

In sentencing him to a year in prison, Judge Niclas Parry said the action of the arresting officers had spared Mid Wales from yet again suffering due to the devastation caused by Class A drugs being distributed in the region. He suspended Wilson’s custodial sentence for two years.

Prosecutor Oliver King said Wilson, of Bedford Avenue, Birkenhead, had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing last July.

“Police, acting on information, stopped a black BMW being driven by the defendant on October 28, 2018,” said Mr King.

“The defendant drove from Liverpool and was entering Newtown when he was stopped. Police conducted a thorough search. Between the centre console and driver’s seat they found a number of plastic bags containing wraps of both heroin and crack cocaine.

“The total weight of heroin was 13.55 grams, with 32 per cent purity, and 12.1 grams of cocaine. According to a drug officer the combined maximum street value was £2,690.

“Further work was carried out and both his palm print and DNA were found on the packages. He admitted the drugs were his, they were nothing to do with his co-defendant.

“He was acting as a courier to pay off a debt. He collected the drugs from an address in Liverpool and was directed to deliver them to an address in Newtown where he’d be met by someone who’d take them from him.”

Mr King said Wilson had no prior convictions, reprimands or cautions and accepted he played a lesser role in the offence. No evidence was offered in relation to his co-accused at the earlier hearing.

Defending Wilson, Andrew Green painted a picture of a man who’d turned his life around since the incident.

Mr Green said: “He has very recently moved to live in his grandmother’s house, because she fell ill this summer and she’s gone to live with his father. His father is effectively her full-time carer and when Mr Wilson isn’t working he’s helping out, looking after his grandmother and giving respite to his father.

“This is a serious offence and he’s lived with the knowledge that offences of this kind result in custodial sentences since October 2018.

“His response has been outstanding. He has turned his life around, co-operated completely with probation, got himself good work and volunteered too, in a way which shows the real mark of his character, with the RVS (Royal Voluntary Service), and he tells me he is waiting for a volunteer vaccination marshal role which he is looking forward to doing.”

Judge Parry, describing Wilson as an “idiot”, said: “I probably should use rather more refined language but you’ve been extremely foolish and the consequence, had you not been stopped, could have been yet again that a part of Wales that suffers dreadfully from the harm caused by Class A drugs, would have been further harmed.

“It causes damage to health and criminality, it causes people to commit crime to fund their habits. The problem arises where these drugs come from the north west of England and people are profiting there at the expense of people living in Mid Wales. That’s why it always has to be custody.

“You started to see sense and since then you have changed your life. You have accommodation, paid employment, all protective features that show you to be a low risk of reoffending.

“You’ve shown the other side of your character by the good work you’ve been doing on a voluntary basis to assist those in this pandemic.”

In addition to the suspended custodial sentence, Wilson was ordered to complete a rehabilitation requirement of 15 days, as well as 120 hours’ unpaid work. He must also make a contribution to costs of £500.