Heroin-dealing pensioner caught with 700 street deals

Heroin-dealing pensioner caught with 700 street deals
A judge said it was clear 70-year-old Gareth Evans was running a 'widespread and financially-thriving business'
Gareth Evans
(Image: South Wales Police )
A pensioner drug peddler was caught with enough heroin for 700 street deals, a court has heard. A judge said it was clear the 70-year-old was running a "widespread and financially-thriving business" from his Merthyr home.
Ross McQuillan-Johnson, prosecuting, told Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court that on January 30 this year police stopped a Vauxhall Mokka vehicle driving near Merthyr and searched the vehicle and the driver, the defendant Gareth Evans. Officers recovered five wraps of brown powder from the car.
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As a result of the discovery a search was executed at Evans' house and officers found £850 in cash and tubs and packages of heroin containing enough of the Class A drug to make around 700 street deals worth more than £21,000. Officers also recovered drugs paraphrenia including weighing scales, along with 10 boxes of bromazepam pills.
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The prosecutor said the phones seized by the police had not been interrogated. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter
The court heard that Evans subsequently answered "no comment" to all questions asked in interview.
Gareth Evans, of North Street, Dowlais, Merthyr, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of heroin with intent to supply and to the simple possession of the Class C drug bromazepam when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.
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He has two previous convictions for two offences - possession of heroin with intent to supply from 2013, and the simple possession of heroin in 2017.
Ieuan Bennett, for Evans, said following his previous involvement with drugs the defendant had rid himself of heroin.
However, he said, when Evans embarked on a new relationship with a woman who had substance misuse problems he took on the debts she had incurred "from her previous lifestyle".
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The barrister said even with the pressure that was being put on him, given Evans was in the "twilight of his life" and given his previous experience his client should not have involved himself in dealing drugs once more.
Judge Jeremy Jenkins said following a stop-search of the defendant's car police had uncovered a "very large stash" of heroin at his home address, and he said it was clear Evans was running a "widespread and financially thriving business".
He said the defendant knew from his past experiences about the ruthless nature of people in the drugs world and their pursuit of debts but had still chosen to involve himself in that world again.
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With one-quarter discounts for his guilty pleas Evans was sentenced to 45 months in prison. He will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.

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