Vusumuzi Tenga, 36, of Green Street in Neath, was sentenced to 28 months in prison at Swansea Crown Court after pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of a Class A drug.
The court heard that Tenga, who had previously mentored young people and worked to steer them away from crime, began dealing cocaine after his life began to “drift” following redundancy. His defence advocate said he had fallen in with “bad company” and now recognised the “hypocrisy” of his actions.
Prosecutor Regan Walters told the court that in April this year, South Wales Police officers investigating an unrelated drugs case in Neath recovered phones from two known drug users. The devices contained messages from a contact using terms such as “on”, “about”, and “last orders”—phrases commonly used by dealers to indicate availability.
Checks on the number linked the messages to Tenga, who had previously contacted police to report an assault. When officers arrested him and seized his phone, they confirmed the connection by dialling the number—Tenga’s handset rang. He provided the PIN, and officers found it had been used to send out “typical bulk-style messages” advertising cocaine for sale.
In interview, Tenga claimed he was supplying drugs only to fund his own habit and was not motivated by profit.
The court was told he had four previous convictions for eight offences, including cannabis possession, drink-driving, and breaching a community order.
Defence counsel Andrew Evans said Tenga was educated to degree level and had worked in engineering before losing his job. He described the defendant’s descent into drug dealing as a fall from grace, given his former role as a pastor and youth mentor.
Judge Catherine Richards said she had read a letter from Tenga and accepted his remorse was genuine. However, she told him that anyone involved in the supply of Class A drugs knows the consequences if caught.
With credit for his guilty plea, Tenga was sentenced to 28 months in prison. He will serve 40 per cent of the sentence in custody before being released on licence.
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