Jailed: Cocaine and Taser found at Shropshire dealer's home
A Shropshire drug dealer has been jailed after police found a Taser and more than £1,000 worth of cocaine in his house during a raid.
Mark Seymour, who was jailed for 33 months after the raid at his home in Oswestry, was told by Judge Anthony Lowe: “You are not a bad person, but I’m afraid you did a bad thing.”
More than £1,000 worth of cocaine was also found and police confiscated more than £1,000 in cash, including £600 from his wife’s underwear drawer.
Seymour, 45, had been dealing drugs from about December 2018 to March 1, 2019.
Prosecutor Samantha Powis told Shrewsbury Crown Court: “These offences came to light in March last year. He was in bed at the time of the warrant. A stun gun was found in a box. It was fully charged. Cash was also recovered totalling £1,175.”
There was also cocaine worth up to £1,350 recovered as well as a small amount of cannabis, the court heard.
Ms Powis added: “The defendant was arrested and interviewed. He said he had the Taser for self defence. He accepted the drugs were in his possession with a view to being sold.
"He said he had been dealing for three or four months.”
Candid
Seymour, of Greenfield Square, Morda, Oswestry, pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon and possession of drugs of Class A, B and C.
Debra White, defending, asked Judge Lowe to suspend any prison sentence due to Seymour having a medical condition which “causes him a great deal of pain”.
“He will need medication for the rest of his life,” she said. “One of the medications he takes is morphine sulphate.
“When police arrested him, he was extremely candid.”
Judge Lowe accepted that Seymour had admitted the offences when arrested by police, and that getting morphine to him quickly while in a prison cell would be difficult. But he told Seymour the crime was too serious for him to avoid a jail term.
“You recognise what you did was wrong and the harm that it causes. I accept that you are sorry and remorseful. The reality is that you had the taser to protect yourself as a drug dealer.”
It was disputed that some of the cash found was not connected to drug dealing, and that the money found in his wife’s drawer belonged to her. A proceeds of crime hearing will take place at a later date.
