Solicitor jailed after drug links exposed during investigation into client

Nation.Cymru staff

A criminal defence solicitor has been jailed after an investigation into his client exposed his own involvement in supplying cocaine and steroids.

Ben Garvey was one of three men sentenced at Bristol Crown Court following a South Wales Police investigation into drug dealing linked to the Sandfields area of Port Talbot.

He received three years and six months in prison, while Daniel Baker was jailed for three years and four months and Jake Blackburn for four years and ten months.

The investigation began after Baker was arrested in August 2021 over separate cocaine supply offences. Garvey and his firm represented him.

Analysis of phones and other devices showed that Blackburn had been distributing drugs on Baker’s behalf. Officers also found messages revealing that cocaine was being supplied to Garvey.

A search of the solicitor’s home in September 2021 led to the seizure of further mobile devices and steroids, a class C drug.

Examination of the devices uncovered evidence that Garvey was supplying cocaine and steroids among his associates.

He was an active member of a 17-person WhatsApp group in which members discussed sourcing and supplying cocaine during 2020 and 2021. Messages included footage of cocaine being used and photographs of wholesale quantities of drugs.

While Baker was in custody in August 2021, Garvey also acted as an intermediary, passing criminal messages between him and Blackburn.

Operation Kilau was led by South Wales Police’s Serious Organised Crime Team, with support from the Tarian Regional Organised Crime Unit.

Following a trial during July and August, all three men were convicted of drug supply offences and perverting the course of justice.

Garvey was sentenced for being concerned in the supply of steroids, being concerned in the supply of cocaine, assisting or encouraging the supply of cocaine, and perverting the course of justice.

Baker and Blackburn were each sentenced for being concerned in the supply of cocaine with one another and perverting the course of justice.

Baker was already serving a prison sentence after Tarian officers arrested him and he was subsequently convicted of breaching a Serious Crime Prevention Order.

‘Complex investigation’

Senior investigating officer Chief Inspector Russ Jenkins said: “This was an extremely complex investigation requiring the careful handling of a significant volume of legally privileged material.”

He added: “As an officer of the court, he had a clear duty to uphold the integrity of the criminal justice system. Instead, he chose to abuse that position of trust by actively engaging in the very criminality he was professionally bound to challenge.

“The sentences imposed today reflect the seriousness of these offences and should serve as a clear warning to others involved in organised drug supply.”

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