Newton Hearing success for Tomas McGarvey in Drugs and Firearms Case

Tomas McGarvey, instructed by Sikander Azim of Spectre Law, successfully represented a defendant charged with being concerned in the supply of class A drugs and possession of a firearm during a Newton hearing before the Crown Court at Huntingdon.

Tomas’s client entered a guilty plea to being concerned in the supply of class A drugs on a basis that he had a limited (although significant) role and was involved in the supply of not more than 1 kilogram of cocaine over the entire offending period. However, the prosecution alleged that Tomas’s client played a leading role in a category 1 case, on the basis that he was involved in the supply of a minimum of 5 kilograms of cocaine, and that the supply was commercial in nature. The case involved a significant amount of phone data and messages relied upon by the prosecution to evidence the supply of wholesale quantities of cocaine, including images of multiple kilogram blocks taken at Tomas’s client’s home address and messaging regarding wholesale pricing.

The case proceeded to a contested Newton Hearing, during which expert evidence was called by the prosecution and challenged by Tomas in cross examination. Tomas also called expert evidence for the defence, followed by evidence on oath from Tomas’s client. Tomas’s client’s previous convictions were admitted by agreement (including a previous conviction for the supply of class A drugs).

Having heard the evidence and submissions from the prosecution and defence, the Judge found in favour of Tomas’s client. As a result, the starting point reduced from 14 years to a starting point of 8 years.

Tomas’s client was sentenced to a total of 5 years and 8 months imprisonment. Following representations from Tomas, the prosecution did not proceed with a firearms charge.