Police staked out a house in Goodwick for months and watched drugs being delivered, money being taken out and customers queuing to get their fix a court has heard.

During a sentencing hearing at Swansea Crown Court on Friday, December 2, the court was told that Goodwick man Shaun Lucas, 48, was a leading player in a drugs ring that stretched from Pembrokeshire to Dorset.

Lucas, whose address was given as Ty Cornel, Park Street, Fishguard, had previously pleaded guilty to being involved in a conspiracy to supply both cannabis and cocaine.

Western Telegraph: Police vans at Precelly Crescent when the arrests were made earlier this year.Police vans at Precelly Crescent when the arrests were made earlier this year. (Image: Western Telegraph)

He was sentenced by Her Honour Catherine Richards KC to a total of nine years and eight months in prison last Friday.

Terrence Harrison, 43, from Dorset would source the drugs, the court heard. They would then be delivered by a courier, paid around £500, to the home Lucas shared with his partner in Precelly Place, Goodwick, and he would sell them on from there.

The court also heard that Lucas had made trips to Dorset to meet Harrison and another to the Liverpool area where the pair met.

During the time that they staked out the property, which is just minutes away from the local primary school, police saw deliveries of drugs and collections of cash.

They also heard that Lucas had a steady stream of customers visiting the quiet residential street, some stopping for minutes or even seconds, with many making deals on the doorstep or even from their car.

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The court heard that on one occasion police observed cars queuing to score from Lucas’ address.

Lucas, who had a second-hand tyre business in Letterston called Pembrokeshire Part Worn Tyres, would stash the drugs in the front garden of the property he shared with Leonie James, another defendant in the case due to be sentenced for conspiracy to supply class B drugs later this month, and in the hedge between a neighbouring property.

The court heard that in December of last year Lucas had received eight and a half ounces of cocaine at the Goodwick property. This had a wholesale value of between £10,800 and £18,000 and a street value of between £21,689 and £27,100.

The previous May he had received between four and five kilogrammes of cannabis from courier Leigh Smith. This had a value of between £16,800 and £21,000.

When officers searched a flat that Lucas had kept on in Fishguard they found a notebook containing what was described as a tick list.

The court heard that Lucas had taken measures to disguise his role in the conspiracy, possessing no less than six different mobile phone numbers and ceasing to use them after the first arrests in the case.

Western Telegraph: Before tha arrests police had had the property under surveilance for months. Before tha arrests police had had the property under surveilance for months. (Image: Western Telegraph)

Lucas has two previous convictions for possessing a controlled drug, three for possession with intent to supply and one for robbery. These had all taken place in the Republic of Ireland and the drug concerned was not known.

In this country he had one conviction dating back to 1991 for possession of a bladed article.

In mitigation his barrister, Jon Tarrant, said that Lucas had pleaded guilty on the first day of the trial. He added that he had lost his father to cancer while he was in prison and that his mother had leukaemia, his adult son had also been diagnosed with cancer.

He suffered from debilitating back pain and had started his business in Letterston in the hope of leaving a legacy for his family.

He had expressed remorse and regret for his actions, said Mr Tarrant.

Judge Richards handed down a sentence of nine years and eight months for conspiracy to supply cocaine and four years for conspiracy to supply cannabis, to run concurrently.

Harrison, 43, of Kings Road West, Swanage, was sentenced to eight years four months.

Courier Leigh Smith, 44, of Owls Road, was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison.

All three defendants were told that they would serve half of their sentence in prison before being released on licence.