Belfast men jailed over cocaine seizures

Two Belfast men have been jailed for offences linked to the discovery of a significant cocaine operation in the Shankill area of the city.

Mark Officer, 41, from Glenbryn Drive and Phillip Leslie Colville, 42, from Glencairn Pass, were jailed for 40 and 12 months respectively.

It is understood police estimate that the drugs that were seized had a value of £944,820.

The men were arrested after police stopped a car in December 2013.

Officer was convicted of being involved in the supply of a Class A drug, while Colville was found guilty of possessing cocaine, and also possessing a prohibited weapon - a stun gun in the shape of a mobile phone that was capable of discharging electricity.

The court heard that on 5 December, 2013 police stopped a car on the sliproad from the Westlink leading to the Broadway roundabout in west Belfast.

When both men were searched by police, Colville was found to be hiding around 11 grams of cocaine between his buttocks.

In a follow-up search of his home police found the stun gun in the shape of a mobile phone.

Colville admitted a charge of possessing the drug, but denied possessing the prohibited weapon. He was subsequently tried at Belfast Crown Court and found guilty of possessing the stun gun.

Police also searched a house in the Shankill area of the city associated with Officer.

A significant amount of cocaine in various levels of purity was found, along with equipment associated with mixing the drug, including a hydraulic press.

About 275 grams of cocaine discovered in the house was found to be of a 63% purity, meaning it had not yet been cut and prepared for distribution to the public.

A prosecutor said it was the Crown's case that Officer had involved himself in mixing the drug at the address.

However, a defence barrister for Officer said his client was more of a "storeman" and had "no interest" in supplying the drug for money.

He said his client was a man of limited intellect and a history of mental health issues - a combination, he said, that rendered Officer "vulnerable to people who may want to take advantage of him".

Colville's barrister said the stun gun found in her client's home was brought back from Spain as a gift by a friend, adding it had been "lying in a drawer in his house" when the property was searched in December 2013.

Regarding the cocaine found hidden between Colville's buttocks, Ms McDermott said it was accepted this was for his own personal use.

Sentencing both men, the judge said that while he accepted Officer had acted under some degree of pressure, he had however involved himself in processing the drug.

He told the pair they would both serve half of their sentences in prison, with the remaining half spent on supervised licence upon their release from custody.