Three people involved in a production line of cannabis gummies on a commercial scale in Haverfordwest have been jailed today.
The scheme was busted after sorting office staff in Merlins Bridge came across a package smelling strongly of cannabis addressed to an address in Primrose Hill. Inside was a container of cannabis distillate.
On visiting the Primrose Hill address, occupied by John Miles, his daughter Chay Miles, and her teenage boyfriend Kyle Gadsby, police found more distillate, branded packaging, and kilos of all different kinds of sweets.
Of these 11.51 kilogrammes were already impregnated with cannabis while a further 14.11 kilogrammes of sweets were waiting to be prepared.
A drug expert estimated the market value of the haul to be between £11,820 and £19,666.
When officers commented on the amount of sweets in the property, Gadsby claimed that they ‘stocked up for the children’ in order not to spend so much in the shops.
John Miles, 51, his daughter Chay Miles, 28 and 19-year-old Kyle Gadsby all pleaded guilty to of possession with intent to supply cannabis on June 5 2024 as well as being concerned in the supply of cannabis between August 24 last year and June 5 this year.
His Honour Judge Huw Rees KC said that the offences were aggravated by the fact that the drugs were in the form of sweets, saying that they were targeted at a whole range of people including the ‘vulnerable, the uninitiated and the naïve’.
The gummies were sold over social media, including Instagram and snapchat’ where customers had left reviews saying that they were ‘f***ing banging’ and praising the speed of delivery.
After they had uncovered the operation at Primrose Drive, police issued a warning to parents to be aware of the dangers of drug-laced 'sweets' which could appeal to children.
The court heard that John Miles had only been out of prison for four months when his home was raided by police. He had previously been jailed for being concerned in the supply of cocaine and the supply of cannabis.
His daughter was of previously clean character and her boyfriend of clean character until drugs and driving offences in Northampton in 2023, which were also sentenced today.
In mitigation it was said that Chay Miles was a single mum of three young children who had got into financial difficulty due to a benefits mix up. She was ‘considerably out of pocket’ when she became involved in the scheme.
Gadsby had had a difficult upbringing and had ‘gone off the rails’ in the course of a year. He gad only been involved with the Haverfordwest operation for around four weeks.
He was also sentenced to possession of cannabis with intent to supply and possession of criminal property in relation to an incident in a Northampton park in July 2023 and possession of a bladed article, possession of cannabis, dangerous driving, driving with no insurance and driving with only a provisional licence, relating to an offence, also in Northampton in December 2023.
John Miles was said to be ‘putting his time to good use’ while on remand in prison, working towards certificates and making an appointment t address his drug use.
Judge Rees said that this was ‘a very serious matter of commercial enterprise of the supply of cannabis edibles’ and that the ‘sophisticated’ operation at the Primrose Drive property constituted a ‘production line with the sweets in various stages of production’.
He added that the drugs in this form could be the first time younger, vulnerable, uninitiated and naïve customers came into contact with drugs.
He sentenced John Miles to three years in prison, Chay Miles to 27 months and Kyle Gadsby to a total of 27 months for the Haverfordwest and Northampton offences.
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