A DRUGS boss was caught short when he tried to flush a burner phone down the toilet.
Corey Barnett, aged 29, from Newport made a desperate attempt to get rid of the evidence when the police came knocking on his door.
He had not long been released from a nine-year prison sentence for trafficking heroin when he was back at it, this time by selling cocaine.
Barnett was “holding a burner phone and managing others” in the supply of the class A drug throughout Gwent, Jenny Yeo, prosecuting said.
The defendant was caught when two men were arrested with cocaine and cash after police stopped a car on Witham Street in Newport last December.
A phone seized from them linked Barnett who was “directing” them to sell cocaine, Cardiff Crown Court was told.
When officers went to the defendant’s home, they could hear the toilet being flushed.
After they got into the property, they found the Nokia burner phone in the pan.
Barnett, of Bessemer Drive, Newport pleaded guilty to being concerned in supply of cocaine.
Officers found an iPhone at the defendant's address which put him in breach of a serious crime prevention order as he was prohibited from owning two mobiles.
He admitted failing to comply with this order.
The offences took place between November 28 last year and February 12.
This was Barnett’s third conviction for trafficking class A drugs which attracts a minimum jail sentence of seven years without taking into account discount for a guilty plea.
His barrister Byron Broadstock said the father-of-one had struggled to find work following his release from prison.
There was a “significant delay” in him receiving benefits after making a claim.
“Sadly, he took the opportunity of the offer to direct others, in the in the manner described by the prosecution,” Mr Broadstock.
The defendant was being paid £300 a week to do so, he added.
Judge Eugene Egan told Barnett: “You are subject to the minimum term provisions under the relevant legislation, as you know.”
Giving him the appropriate discount, he was jailed for just over five-and-a-half years – 2,045 days – and told he would serve half of that term in custody.
The defendant was ordered to pay a victim surcharge following his release from prison.
Judge Egan ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the two mobile phones.
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