Shrewsbury dealers told to pay back £2,000 of drugs money
Three men who were involved in the supply of drugs in the Shrewsbury area have been ordered to pay back more than £2,000 of their ill-gotten gains.
They were caught when a car was stopped by police.
All three were arrested in 2015 and found to be in possession of various quantities of cocaine and cannabis. They appeared for sentence at Shrewsbury Crown Court last year – William Whiston and Rhys Pocock in the dock and Edmund Welsby via a video link from a young offenders' institution.
A proceeds of crime hearing was held at the court on Friday in a bid to claw back their criminal gains.
Mr Delroy Henry, prosecuting, told the court Pocock had benefited from £927.50 and Whiston £377.50 through criminal means.
The court heard Welsby had also benefited from £815, although only had £790 worth of assets available.
Judge Jim Tindal ordered them to pay back the amounts within three months, or face one month in jail.
The court previously heard Whiston was the driver of the car and the others were passengers when it was stopped in Copthorne in July 2015.
They were found in possession of drugs and later police found drugs at Pocock's address and analysis of mobile phones showed he and Whiston were concerned in the supply of cocaine and cannabis.
The court heard that cash was recovered from Welsby who had admitted being in possession of cannabis with intent to supply. He was already in custody for breaching a restraining order while he was on bail for the drugs offence. The former bakery worker was said to have been a cannabis user and was considered to be a street dealer. At court, Welsby, 21, of no fixed abode, was given a further six months custody at a young offenders' institution.
Whiston had pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine and cannabis. He had been a cannabis user and the court heard he had now broken away from his previous associates.
Whiston, 19, of Nobold, Baschurch, was given 16 months custody in a young offenders' institution, suspended for two years, and was ordered to complete 150 hours unpaid work.
The court heard that Pocock, 33, a machine operator for an engineering firm, had admitted possession of cocaine with intent to supply.
He was a recreational drug user and had been supplying a circle of friends to feed his own habit. A quantity of cocaine was found in a bedside cabinet at his home in Shorncliff Drive, Shrewsbury, and phone analysis showed he had supplied drugs to others.
Pocock was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, and a community order.
