A cleaner on the railways turned to dealing drugs to help pay the bills, a court has heard. Saif Ali’s second source of income was discovered after police pulled over his car because of the way it was being driven and were struck by the strong smell of cannabis.
The 25-year-old’s barrister told Swansea Crown Court his client felt that getting arrested was the best thing that could have happened to him as it had given him the “wake up” call he needed as to where his life was heading. Sending Ali to prison a judge said it was clear from what he had read that the defendant had not been brought up to behave in the way he had and he told him he had brought shame on his family.
Jon Tarrant, prosecuting, told the court that on October 27 last year police officers had cause to stop a white Ford Fiesta car which they had seen exiting Gore Terrace in Swansea “at speed”. On approaching the car the officers could smell cannabis, and the driver Ali and the vehicle were searched. The court heard that in the Ford officers found 16 bags of “green vegetable matter” which turned out to be a total of 79g of cannabis, some £765 in cash in the glovebox, 7.3g of cocaine, and “various blister packs” of unidentified tablets. When Ali was searched he was found to have four small bags of cocaine each containing 0.5g.
READ MORE: Elderly dog walker ‘trapped under car’ as incident shuts Newport road – live updates
READ MORE: This £22m school opened in September. So why are staff now facing redundancy and being told state of the art facilities may never be used?
The prosecutor said a subsequent search of the defendant’s home uncovered a set of weighing scales covered in a “white residue” and another £300 in cash along with number of small white bags containing white powder. The court heard that an initial look through the defendant’s phone showed messages relating to the supply of drugs but no download and detailed examination of all the iPhone’s messages had been undertaken by police. You can read about a cocaine and ketamine dealer who has “found religion” while being held on remand in prison awaiting sentence here
Saif Ali, of Hanover Street, Mount Pleasant, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply and possession of cannabis with intent to supply when he appeared in the dock for sentencing via videolink from prison. He has two previous convictions for five offences including theft and aggravated vehicle-taking, all committed when he was a youth.
Stephen Thomas, for Ali, said the defendant’s best mitigation was his guilty pleas. He said Ali had left school with no qualifications but had a good work ethic as evidence by references before the court and said for the last two years he had been employed as a cleaner on the railways. He said they were his instruction that the low wages Ali got for his job meant he was “struggling to keep on top of the bills” and to help his parents financially, and he fell into bad company. The barrister said Ali’s arrest and remand into prison “was the wake up call he needed” and had given him time to reflect on his life. He said the defendant realises he made a “terrible mistake” and very much regrets getting involved in drugs.
Judge Huw Rees said it was clear from everything he had read that Ali came from a stable background and had not been brought up to behave in the way he had, and he told the defendant he had brought shame on his family. The judge called cocaine a “pernicious” drug and said those who deal in it must expect an immediate prison sentence. With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas Ali was sentenced to 28 months in prison comprising 28 months for the cocaine offence and six months for the cannabis offence to run concurrently. The defendant will serve up to half the sentence in custody before begin released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
This interactive tool allows you to check the latest crime statistics for your area: