Friends tried to stop drug dealers’ arrest

TWO young drug dealers were caught by police who had intelligence linking the car they were in to vehicle thefts, a court has heard.

- JASON EVANS

Joshua Tobin. Joshua Chappell.

Despite the best efforts of people who stopped officers from following them, Joshua Tobin and Joshua Chappell were arrested and a subsequent examination of their phones revealed what they had been doing.

Newport Crown Court heard that both defendants have previous convictions for trafficking drugs, with one of them being on a suspended sentence for dealing when he was caught again.

Regan Walters, prosecuting, told the court that on November 3 this year police on patrol in the Townhill area of Swansea saw a red Fiat Punto followed by a grey VW Polo driving in convoy together in Dyfed Avenue - two vehicles which intelligence had linked to car thefts.

The court heard the officers began to follow the convoy, at which point the second of the two cars - the Polo - started slowing down and “obstructing” the police car, preventing it from getting near to the Punto which was speeding away. When the Punto was out of sight, the Polo pulled over and stopped.

The court heard that, later that day, the Punto was spotted parked in Cockett. When officers approached the vehicle they found Chappell at the wheel with Tobin and three women as passengers.