Cocaine-fuelled Wakefield drug dealer caught breaking into former place of work
A convicted drug dealer has avoided custody again after he was caught breaking into a factory where he once worked.
Frankie Swallow was already on a two-year suspended sentence when he was found burgling the Stoelzle Flaconnage Ltd, a glass-making company in Knottingley.
He was given one last chance at Leeds Crown Court this week to deal with his own cocaine addiction, and handed another suspended sentence.
The court heard that police had been called to the factory on Weeland Road at 2.30am on July 5.
On arrival, they saw Swallow and another male fleeing on foot. They chased and apprehended the pair.
Swallow, 31, had a tin of cannabis on him. He told police he had previously worked at the factory, but during his interview he declined to answer officers’ questions.
He later admitted charges of a non-dwelling burglary and possession of cannabis, prosecutor Lea Levine said.
Swallow has 10 previous convictions for 15 offences, including the two-year suspended sentence he received in May of last year. He had admitted dealing in heroin and crack cocaine.
Mitigating, Lily Wildman said for the factory break-in, Swallow had been on a cocaine bender “for days” and “knew it was a stupid thing to do”.
She said he had been homeless but had been living in supported accomodation on Pontefract’s South Baileygate, run by The Saviour Trust.
She asked the judge for help to tackle his drug problems, rather than trigger his suspended sentence.
Judge Kate Rayfield told Swallow: “I’m not sure you realise how lucky you were to get a suspended sentence.
“It seems to me if you are using cocaine, you must be out committing criminal offences to fund it.
“I’m not sure I’m seeing the true picture here, but I will take a chance.”
She gave him a six-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, with 10 rehabilitation days and a six-month drug-rehabilitation requirement.