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Vehicle stop leads to jail for prolific drug dealer

Wednesday, 9 August 2023 00:00

By Zack Kear

Image provided by North Yorkshire Police.

A former York drug dealer has been jailed after the van he was travelling in was stopped in Askham Lane and officers seized over £3,000 worth of crack cocaine and heroin destined for the streets of the city.

Shayne Garnett, 54, of Norwood Street, Scarborough, who previously lived in York, was arrested in July 2020, along the driver and another passenger. 

Following a full search of the vehicle, officers recovered heroin worth around £1,200, crack cocaine worth in excess of £2,000, cannabis and two mobile phones.

All three were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the supply of class A drugs.

The investigation was able to show that despite his initial denials that the drugs were his, conflicting accounts demonstrated that Garnett offered money to the driver to take him to Liverpool to collect the drugs to bring them back to sell in York.

A mobile phone used by Garnett showed conversations relating to the sale of browns and whites – slang terms for heroin and crack cocaine.

On 16 May 2023, Garnett changed his plea to guilty of possessing heroin with intent to supply and possessing cocaine with intent to supply. He appeared at York Crown Court on Monday 7 August and jailed for four years.

His co-defendant and driver of the van, Robert Grafton-Holt, of Burton Stone Lane, York, pleaded guilty to the same offences and was handed a two-year jail sentence suspended for eighteen months in May.  

The third man, the other passenger in the van, was found not guilty on the direction of the Crown Court Judge.

Investigating officer, DC Darren May, said: “Illegal drugs ruin lives and spoil the quality of life in our communities. The drug trade is driven by the greed of dealers who make money at the expense of vulnerable people’s addictions. 

We continually target drugs coming into the County to disrupt supply networks.  If you are involved in the supply of drugs in any capacity, you could be the next arrest.  Garnett is a career drug dealer who despite previous convictions for similar offences has continued to deal in Class A drugs.  I am pleased with the sentence that the Court has imposed today, taking into consideration Garnett’s guilty plea”

Report drug dealing 

To report drug dealing please call North Yorkshire Police on 101. If you prefer not to speak to the police and wish to remain anonymous, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. If you or another person is in immediate danger, always call 999.

Get help for drug and alcohol addiction

 

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