PORT TALBOT: Solicitor, 38, who defended a Sandfields cocaine boss jailed after police found he was buying from him

A criminal defence solicitor has been jailed for three and a half years after South Wales Police found he had been buying cocaine from the Port Talbot drug dealer he was representing, and passing messages for him while he sat in custody.

Ben Garvey, 38, of Vivian Park Drive, Sandfields, was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday alongside Daniel Baker, 34, of Silver Avenue, and Jake Blackburn, 28, of Chrome Avenue, both also Sandfields, after a trial in July and August in which all three were convicted of perverting the course of justice.

The arrest that started it

The investigation, Operation Kilau, was led by the force’s Serious Organised Crime Team with support from the Tarian Regional Organised Crime Unit. It began, police say, when Baker was arrested in August 2021 in connection with separate cocaine supply offences, and Garvey and his firm represented him.

Swansea Bay News reported that arrest at the time: Baker, then 29, was charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine, possession with intent to supply ketamine and possession of a stun gun disguised as a torch.

He was jailed for 12 years in May 2022 after admitting heading an organised crime group that police said had moved 10kg of cocaine, worth up to £1.4m on the street, between South Wales and Oxfordshire.

Two cocaine buys in 12 hours

The court heard Garvey’s dealings with Baker began in the summer of 2021, when he bought cocaine from him for himself and his friends ahead of what prosecutor Ray Tully KC called “a big night out”.

There were two meet-ups between the pair in a 12-hour period, the court heard, and when Baker was not available, Blackburn sold cocaine to Garvey on his behalf.

“The prosecution’s case is Daniel Baker, as of the summer of 2021, was the organiser of an organised crime group and that group was instrumental in the supply of cocaine,” Mr Tully said. “He came to be arrested in 2021 and following his arrest and seizure of electronic items, messages came to light of Mr Garvey, the solicitor, arranging to meet with Mr Baker for the purpose of purchasing cocaine from him.”

The client who knew his solicitor

When Baker was arrested on 18 August 2021 he asked for David W Harris & Co, the firm with offices in Swansea, Pontypridd and Talbot Green where Garvey was a partner. Mr Tully said Baker “came to be represented by someone he knew and supplied drugs to in the past”.

With Baker in custody, Garvey was in frequent phone contact with Blackburn, the court heard. One message from Blackburn read: “Tell Dan Oxford’s sorted, everything else by tonight.” Another asked for Baker’s iCloud username and password.

Mr Tully told the court the request was so Blackburn could “take care of things after the boss had been nicked”, including wiping material stored online. “We say that it’s an attempt to preserve and protect the drugs operation and carry on business whilst the boss is incarcerated,” he said.

“The Old C***s”

Garvey and Blackburn were arrested as a result of the messages on Baker’s phone, and their own devices seized. Police searched Garvey’s home in September 2021, recovering further devices and steroids, a class C drug.

Messages on Garvey’s phone showed he had been concerned in the supply of steroids as far back as 2013, the court heard, and that he was part of a WhatsApp group named “The Old C***s” in which he “egged on” friends to buy cocaine. Police say the 17-strong group shared footage of cocaine being used and images of wholesale quantities of the drug between 2020 and 2021.

The verdicts and the sentences

All three were convicted of perverting the course of justice by majority verdicts. Baker and Blackburn had already pleaded guilty to the cocaine supply charges; Garvey was also found guilty of being concerned in the supply of class A and class C drugs and of encouraging or assisting an offence.

The court heard Garvey had one previous conviction, for a public order offence. Baker had five, including the 12-year sentence for conspiracy to supply cocaine. Blackburn had none.

In mitigation, Brendan Kelly KC said Garvey’s drug offences had nothing to do with him being a solicitor and should not be treated as an aggravating factor, and that there was “no evidence of harm” from the perverting charge.

Judge Michael Cullum jailed Garvey for three years and six months 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 was jailed for three years and four months for being concerned in the supply of cocaine with Blackburn, and perverting the course of justice. Police say he was already serving a sentence, having been convicted of breaching a Serious Crime Prevention Order after an arrest by Tarian officers.

Blackburn received the longest term, four years and ten months, for being concerned in the supply of cocaine with Baker, and perverting the course of justice.

“He chose to abuse that position of trust”

Chief Inspector Russ Jenkins, the senior investigating officer, who as a detective inspector led the 2022 case against Baker, said: “This was an extremely complex investigation requiring the careful handling of a significant volume of legally privileged material.

“Ben Garvey was a practising criminal defence solicitor throughout the period of offending, which spanned several years. 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.”

Author

Kit Peters

Kit Peters is a journalist and the editor of Swansea Bay News, covering Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire since 2020.