Drug dealer, 41, caught with nearly £400 of crack cocaine a stone's throw from Shrewsbury police station avoids prison
A drug dealer who was caught with nearly £400 worth of crack cocaine within a stone’s throw of Shrewsbury police station has avoided prison.
Gareth Roden, aged 41, was followed by police in Monkmoor before being pulled over with almost four grams of class A drugs in the pocket of his joggers.
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Shrewsbury Crown Court was told that Roden was a crack cocaine addict who was peddling heroin as well as his favoured drug for Jordan Warren, a “full-time” dealer in the town who had a drugs line named after him.
At around 9.15am on January 13 of 2023, officers were on patrol in an unmarked car on Woodcote Way, Monkmoor - close to Shrewsbury police station in Clive Road.
They spotted a Vauxhall Corsa with two men in the front seats, and followed it to Monkmoor Road and then Judith Butts Gardens. It was being driven by Roden.
Officers activated their blue lights and got out of their car to approach the Corsa, and as they did so, they witnessed what they thought was Roden’s passenger swallowing a packet of drugs.
