This man has been caught breaking the law 226 times - he just got out of prison when police found thousands of pounds of drugs

A drug dealer was caught with boxes containing thousands of pills just weeks after getting out of prison where he had been serving a sentence for previous dealing, a court has heard. Christopher Welke ran off after police saw him carrying out a suspected drugs deal outside Neath railway station but was found hiding in a yard behind a nearby Wetherspoons pub.

Swansea Crown Court heard that less than two months before behind found with the haul of tablets the defendant had been released on licence part-way through a custodial sentence for selling Valium in a town centre park. The court heard Welke has more than 200 previous offences on his record

Sian Cutter, prosecuting, said on March 12 this year a police officer on patrol in Neath town centre saw Welke - a man he knew - "exchanging items" with a male outside the railway station. The officer went to speak to the men but they both ran off. Welke was located a short time later hiding in the yard of the nearby Wetherspoons pub. When the 41-year old was searched he was found with four small bags each containing 10 bromazolam tablets along with boxes of pregabalin tablets.

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The court heard Welke's house was subsequently searched and officers found scores of boxes of both Class C drugs, and in total some 1,646 bromazolam and 4,560 pregabalin tablets were recovered together worth more than £8,500 if sold on the streets. A quantity of empty plastic bags and £160 in cash was also found.

Christopher Mario Welke, of Southall Avenue, Skewen, Neath, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of bromazolam with intent to supply and possession of pregabalin with intent to supply when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has 89 previous convictions for 226 offences including 23 drugs offences between 2001 and 2022 and 147 thefts and other dishonesty matters. He has previous convictions for possession of Class C drugs with intent to supply in 2021 and 2022. In July 2023 he was sentenced to 12 months in prison after being caught red-handed supplying Valium tablets in Neath's Victoria Gardens. Sending him down on that occasion the judge told him he had effectively been treating the popular town centre park as a "marketplace" for selling the drug

Giles Hayes, for Welke, said the defendant had experienced an abusive and "very difficult" upbringing, and said his client's extensive record of thefts in his younger years had been someone stealing "to get by, and to fund his addition". He said that upon his release from his last custodial sentence the defendant had found himself in debt and under pressure, and had resorted to taking anti-depressants and then "heavier drugs". He said the defendant has a young child and was trying to break the "vicious cycle" he finds himself trapped in though it had to be admitted at the present "he is not making much progress".

With a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas, Recorder David Elias KC sentenced Welke to 15 months in prison. The defendant will serve up to half that sentence in custody before being released to serve the remainder in the community.

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