Michael Welch received a sentence of nine years and four months, while co-conspirators Alex Shepherd, Barry Johnson, Daniel Green and Darren Harris received stretches of between 18 and 30 months.Judge Stephen Wildblood QC, sentencing the men at Exeter Crown Court, said Welch's offending was 'in a different league to the others'.He said that Welch represented 'wasted potential' after he had admitted jointly conspiring with others to import cannabis using an ex-BT van which had been modified by installing a secret compartment.Welch, the former owner of Teazers bar on Union Street, also admitted possessing around 90 kilos of herbal cannabis with intent to supply.It was found by police kept in a container rented by Welch at a yard off Embankment Road. The court heard the cannabis had an estimated street value of £253,000.Welch, aged 38, also pleaded guilty to supplying cocaine, admitting in a statement he had purchased 1.275kg of cocaine with a purity of 30 per cent. He had then cut the cocaine's purity to five per cent using benzocaine, 50kgs of which was also found at his rented container. The court was told all that remained of the cocaine was the five '9-bar' wrappings it had come in.The court heard that during a raid at Welch's home in Callington on August 19, 2008, police found a mobile phone which had pictures of cash at his house which had been estimated by the Bank of England to total around £900,000.Shepherd, Johnson, Green and Harris had also pleaded guilty with Welch to the charge of jointly conspiring to fraudulently evade the prohibition on the importation of controlled drugs, between April 1, 2007, and August 20, 2008.Johnson was arrested with Green on September 20, 2007, after they had disembarked the evening ferry from Roscoff to Plymouth Millbay. Green was riding a motocross bike while Johnson was driving an ex-BT van which had been modified to contain a hidden compartment. However, when police and officers from HM Revenue and Customs stripped the van and uncovered the hidden compartment, they discovered it was empty.Shepherd, aged 40, of Wembury Road, Elburton, Plymstock; Johnson, aged 23, of Rolston Close, Tamerton Foliot; 24-year-old Green, of Woodbury Gardens, Plymouth; and Harris, aged 36, of Fraddon in Cornwall, all appeared in the dock alongside Welch, who had been held in custody since his arrest on August 19, 2008.Shepherd admitted possessing a quantity of cocaine, which was found by police following a raid on his rented workshop at Wixenford Farm in Plymstock on August 19, 2008.
The court heard officers found a number of packages including a 872-gramme pack of cocaine at 77 per cent purity, which was kept in a drill case. The court heard that when it was added to other smaller amounts of cocaine found it totalled just under a kilo, with a street value of £96,366.He also pleaded guilty to producing cannabis in a specially constructed 'secret' room in the same works building. The court heard he had admitted to being merely a 'gardener', tending the plants on behalf of others, and was paid by means of a reduction on drug debts he owed. In a statement to court he also admitted possessing criminal property, namely £20,180 in cash, which was found at his home when it was searched by police.Green had also pleaded guilty to possessing criminal property, namely 30,005 euros, which was found in the back panel of a motorbike jacket he was wearing on his return from France.Shepherd was jailed for 30 months, Harris for 24 months, Green for 20 months and Johnson for 18 months.
Read more...
