FIVE defendants have been jailed recently having appeared in court.
The defendants were accused of drug dealing, arson, battery, and breaching a domestic abuse protection order.
Here is a round-up of the cases.
ANDREW LOWNDES
Andrew Lowndes tried to hide heroin in the back seat of a police car after he was arrested.
Lowndes was a passenger in a car stopped by police as it travelled on the A40 on March 6.
He was taken to Haverfordwest Police Station to be searched, but the officers noticed that he was fidgeting with his handcuffs and the front of the seat he was sitting on.
It transpired he had stashed a package of 13.9 grammes of heroin under the seat, which had a street value of £1,390.
Lowndes, 52, of Goshawk Road in Haverfordwest, was handed a four-and-a-half year prison sentence.
LLOYD JENKINS
Lloyd Jenkins was found guilty by a jury of setting fire to his then-partner’s flat after storming out after an argument.
Jenkins and his ex-partner had been out at Milford Haven’s Circles nightclub and had an argument, going back separately to the home they shared.
His partner asked him to stay after he asked to borrow a phone to call his brother, and then the defendant lost his temper and threw a canvas at his partner – hitting her in the face.
She fled to a neighbour’s home, and around half an hour later the fire alarm went off. The defendant had set three fires in the flat, while the victim’s dog was still inside.
Jenkins, 33, of The Ponds in Hundleton, had denied all charges.
He was found guilty by a jury at Swansea Crown Court on March 13 after a two-day trial, and was sentenced to four years in prison for arson, as well as three months – concurrently – for battery.
JONATHAN BARTLEY
Jonathan Bartley, 38, was found with 123.5 grams of cocaine when pulled over by police on December 7, 2020.
The cocaine was split between two snap bags – 61.9 grams in one and 61.6 grams in the other – and was concealed within a flask, which in turn was inside a McDonalds bag on the passenger seat.
It was estimated that the drugs had a street value of between £10,800 and £13,600.
He also had a piece of paper with a list of names on it, with the names ticked off indicating that around £2,520 was owed to him through drugs already sold.
The police also found just over £16,000 in third party bank transfers or cash deposits that were unaccounted for in to Bartley’s bank account.
On Thursday, April 6, Judge Paul Thomas sentenced Bartley, of Sycamore Way in Carmarthen, to two years and four months in prison.
When Bartley did not return home, his partner Kayleigh Owen-Jones suspected he had been arrested and tried to dispose of the cocaine stored at their home.
Owen-Jones, 30, of Cae Grug in Carmarthen, was concerned what would happen to her young children if the police found the drugs, and decided to throw it into a river.
Officers stopped her as she drove off, and she admitted there was cocaine in the car.
Owen-Jones was handed a 12-month community order, and was ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and up to 10 days rehabilitation activity requirement.
PATRICK BYRNE
Patrick Byrne was caught driving back from Newport, Gwent, to Ceredigion with around £3,500-worth of heroin hidden in his rectum on October 16, 2021.
After initially claiming the 28.4 grams of diamorphine was for personal use, Byrne, 49, of Maes y Deri in Cardigan, admitted a charge of possession with intent to supply the Class A drug.
He was jailed for three years and nine months.
His co-defendant, Daniel Meyler, 42, formerly of Williams Terrace in Cardigan, had continued to denied the charge, but was found guilty by a jury last month.
He was jailed for four years and six months for the heroin supply, with eight months – running concurrently – for a charge of supplying cannabis which he admitted.
JORDAN COONEY
Jordan Ashley Cooney, 27, of no fixed abode, appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court on Monday, April 17 accused of breaching a domestic abuse protection order.
Cooney admitted that he had breached the order in Milford Haven on Saturday, April 15.
He was jailed for eight weeks.
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