Jailed: Telford man caught with haul of stolen jewellery when police searched his house for drugs
A man was found in possession of sentimental jewellery worth thousands taken in a number of burglaries when police turned up with a drugs warrant to search his house.
The haul found at the home of Craig Lynas in Telford included 20 gold rings, while a Samsung television, a drill and nearly £1,000 in cash was also found.
He was jailed for three-and-a-half years at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday.
Officers were able to trace many of the items back to the victims of four burglaries between December 2015 and March last year.
Lynas told police he often bought things from people and did not care whether they were stolen or not.
Ms Laura Nash, prosecuting, said officers also found 24.2 grams of crack cocaine – said to have a street value of between £700 and £2,440 – and 11.6 grams of heroin worth up to £1,100.
A small amount of cannabis was also found during the raid on March 30 last year.
Phones seized from the house in Beaconsfield, Brookside, also had text messages on them which were consistent with street dealing, Ms Nash told the court.
Lynas had admitted two charges of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply, and a third charge of handling stolen goods at a previous court hearing.
The 40-year-old, currently a serving prisoner, was sentenced by Judge Jim Tindal in his absence yesterday.
Mr Trevor Meegan, for Lynas, said it was "low level" street dealing.
He said his client had told him he was now "too old for prison" and had got himself clear of drugs while inside, as well as taking on a number of courses to better himself.
But Judge Tindal said it was the second time Lynas had been convicted for drug dealing offences while he also had a "very long record for dishonest offending".
In September, 2014, at Birmingham Crown Court, Lynas was jailed for a total of three-and-a-half years for conspiring to supply crack cocaine and heroin.
He was one of dozens of people arrested by West Mercia police as part of Operation Sift and had admitted supplying drugs between December, 2012 and May, 2014, including selling drugs to undercover police officers.
Lynas was recalled to prison in May last year for being in breach of his licence for the previous drugs conviction and remains in custody.
