SWANSEA: ONE of the leaders of a £1million cocaine dealing gang has been jailed for 11 years.
Christian Fielding was the Liverpool connection in a major operation bringing the Class A drug from Merseyside to Swansea for supply across the county.
Carl Honey-Jones from Treboeth, his father-in-law, Brian Harding from Penlan, and Matthew Jones also from Penlan, had previously been sentenced to a total of more than 22 years for their parts in the conspiracy when Fielding appeared in the dock of Swansea Crown Court today for sentencing.
Ian Wright, for the prosecution, said: “Fielding played an important part in the conspiracy — he had the connections with Liverpool.
“It is the prosecution case that he was on an equal footing with Carl Honey-Jones at the top of the hierarchy.
“It is the prosecution case that cocaine was being sourced out of the area then brought to Swansea for onward supply.”
The court had previously heard that the drug business afforded Honey-Jones and his wife, Donna, a lavish lifestyle of holidays to Dubai, Maldives, Florida and Mexico, luxury cars with personalised plates, “H009 NEY”, and a £40,000 wedding — complete with a horse and carriage — at Swansea’s St Mary’s Church.
Their network was dismantled after officers executed search warrants at 11 addresses across Swansea last November — and police have thanked members of the Penlan community for coming forward with vital information that helped them smash the gang.
Cocaine with a potential street value of up to £750,000 along with almost £60,000 in cash, was seized in the operation, along with expensive jewellery, cars and quad bikes.
Oliver Cook, for Fielding, said what while his client accepted he had played an important part in the drugs operation, “he was not the principle architect of the conspiracy” and was not living an extravagant lifestyle on the back of the dealing.
The court head 32-year-old Fielding — who is originally from Liverpool — has previous convictions for trafficking Class A drugs at Peterborough Crown Court, and for robbery at Derby Crown Court.
His Honour Judge Paul Thomas QC said that in his view Fielding had been at the top of the conspiracy along with Carl Honey-Jones, and had provided the “vital link” to Liverpool.
He said Fielding’s record showed he was prepared to travel the country committing serious crimes to fund his lifestyle, adding: “You do not seem to have learnt from your previous custody”.
His Honour sentenced Fielding to 11 years in prison.
Carl Honey-Jones, aged 31, of Penlan Road, had previously been sentenced to nine years, Jones, aged 24, of Heol Gwyrosydd, Penlan, to eight years, and Harding, aged 58, of St Clears Place, Penlan, to five-and-a-half years for their parts in the conspiracy.
Harding was involved in storing the cocaine and mixing it ready for its onward supply; Jones was Honey-Jones’s “right hand man” in the trade — his role was to take cocaine and distribute it to street dealers and users around Swansea, and then to collect payment for it.
Harding’s children — Laura Harding, aged 31, of Heol Penar, Penlan, and David Owens, aged 41, of Lon Mawr, Caemawr — had each previously been sentenced to 16 months, suspended for 12 months, after admitting perverting the course of justice.
Laura Harding and Owens only became involved after the arrest of the other members of their family — Owens began getting phone calls from people he described as “Scousers” saying there was cocaine outstanding that the police had not recovered, and making threats if it was not returned. Searches of family properties were made and 9kg of cocaine “in two blocks the size of house bricks” were found in a shed and returned to the Liverpudlians — but the threatening calls continued to relation to more outstanding drugs, and a frightened Owens called the police asking for help.
Donna Honey-Jones is due to be sentenced for money-laundering — a charge she admitted along with her husband — tomorrow.
His Honour previously said it was hard to gauge the scale of the gang’s drug operation but that it “probably ran into seven figures”.
