Former Wales boxer caught plotting to import cannabis from Thailand to North Wales after tip off
Police swooped on Harvey Williams at a Llandudno guesthouse and found drugs along with Williams' partner "cooking" cocaine on a stove to turn it into crack cocaine. Williams and his partner Sophie Williams-Roberts pleaded guilty to drugs offences.
Today a judge at Caernarfon Crown Court gave them suspended sentences. An accomplice Thomas Braganca received a 12-month community order. You can sign up for all the latest court stories here
Prosecutor Richard Edwards said last year Harvey Williams, 21, and Braganca, 30, had conspired to import cannabis from Thailand.
On June 7 last year Harvey Williams had been staying in the Bella Vista Guest House in Llandudno. Police arrived and found both Williams and partner Sophie Williams-Roberts, 30, in a room.
She was "cooking crack cocaine on a stove", the court heard. Officers also discovered 17.7g of heroin worth £1,600 and 174 wraps of crack cocaine worth £1,700.
They also found scales and evidence the couple been involved in drug dealing. On May 26 Harvey had sent a message about "Thai weed" with the words "I'll have proper cheap. Nice".
The court also heard that later on August 6 last year the UK Border Force told North Wales Police about two suspect packages they found containing about a kilo of herbal cannabis with two local addresses.
Police arrested the three defendants. Enquiries established Harvey Williams had travelled to Thailand and that Braganca had supplied him with the two addresses for the packages to be sent to.
Elen Owen, defending Harvey Williams, said he had had his own drug habit and was paying off drug debts. He had been a boxer for the Welsh national team.
She said: "It appears sadly like so many thousands of others (life) unravelled during the Covid period when the positive influences of daily training were taken away from him and he associated with older, negative influences on him, leading to him taking drugs." At one stage, when he was a teenager, his mobility was affected and he went into hospital, she added.
He tried to keep away from dealers but he and his family were threatened and he felt he had no choice but to continue his offending, said Ms Owen. But his time on remand in custody has taught him a "salutary lesson".
Jemma Gordon, for Sophie Williams-Roberts, said it was "unfortunate" that the mother of three has found herself convicted of such a number of offences. She had suffered trauma and had been using drugs from a young age.
Harvey Williams, of Queen's Avenue, Maesgeirchen, Bangor, was given a 24-month jail term, suspended for 24 months, for conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and conspiracy to supply heroin. He also received a concurrent, nine- month suspended sentence for the importation of cannabis.
Sophie Williams-Roberts, of Tan-y-Coed, Maesgeirchen, Bangor, was given a 16-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, for conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and heroin. She must wear a trail monitoring tag for six months and attend 15 sessions of rehabilitation activity.
Braganca, of Glyn Road, Bangor, was given a 12-month community order for the importation of cannabis. He must do 20 days of rehabilitation activity.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
Thailand returns 2 wounded soldiers to Cambodia but continues to hold 18 of their comrades
Cambodia on Friday welcomed the return of two wounded soldiers who had been captured by the Thai army after the two sides had already implemented a ceasefire to end five days of combat over competing territorial claims. Their repatriation comes amid accusations and bickering over whether either side had targeted civilians and breached the laws of war, and sharp nationalist feuding on social media. The rest of a 20-member group of Cambodian soldiers captured on Tuesday in one of the disputed pockets of land over which the two sides were fighting remain in Thai hands, and Cambodian officials are demanding their release. The two countries have given differing accounts of the circumstances of the capture. Cambodian officials say their soldiers approached the Thai position with friendly intentions to offer post-fighting greetings, while Thai officials said the Cambodians appeared to have hostile intent and entered what Thailand considers its territory, so were taken prisoner. Cambodian Defense Ministry Spokesperson Maly Socheata confirmed that the two wounded soldiers had been handed over at a border checkpoint between Thailand's Surin province and Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province, and urged the Thai side to promptly repatriate the remaining personnel in accordance with 'international humanitarian law.' Thailand says it has been following international legal procedures and was holding the remaining 18 soldiers until it could investigate their actions. A statement issued Friday by Thailand's 2nd Army Region identified the two repatriated Cambodian soldiers as a sergeant with a broken arm and a gash on his hip, and a second lieutenant who appeared to be suffering from battle fatigue and needed care from his family. It said both men had taken an oath not to engage in further hostilities against Thailand. Neither man has been made available for interviews by neutral third parties. There were other peaceful activities on Friday on both sides of the border as both countries staged tours of the former battle areas for foreign diplomats and other observers, highlighting damage allegedly caused by the other side. The two countries continue to accuse each other of having violated the laws of war with attacks on civilians and the illegal use of weapons. More than three dozen people, civilian and soldiers, were killed in the fighting, which in addition to infantry battles included artillery duels and the firing of truck-mounted rockets by Cambodia, to which Thailand responded with airstrikes. More than 260,000 people in total were displaced from their homes. Under the terms of the ceasefire, military representatives of both sides are supposed to meet next week to iron out details to avoid further clashes. However, the talks are not supposed to cover the competing territorial claims that are at the heart of decades-long tension between the two countries. Partisans of both sides are also waging a war of words online, with Thailand accusing Cambodia of also carrying out malicious hacking. Both countries' professional journalism societies have accused each other of spreading false information and other propaganda. ——-
North Wales Chronicle
5 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Gwynedd and Anglesey criminals who were jailed in July 2025
Ian Parry (Image: North Wales Police) Parry, 45, of North Penrallt, Caernarfon, was jailed after his XL Bully dog attacked an eight-year-old boy. Caio Shaw lost a thumb and was left 'covered in blood' following the incident. Read the full story here. Ricky Lloyd (Image: North Wales Police) Lloyd, 39, of no fixed abode, strangled his ex-partner and repeatedly banged her head on the floor of her Bangor home. He left his former partner 'on the verge of blacking out' after climbing into her home via a window. Read the full story here. Kevin Evans (Image: North Wales Police) Evans, 33, of Cae Bold, Caernarfon, was jailed after trying to 'petrol-bomb' a property in the town. CCTV footage showed that Evans had attended a Texaco garage 19 minutes before the fire, buying a green jerrycan, and filling it with petrol. Read the full story here. William Palmer (Image: North Wales Police) Palmer, 31, of New Street, Porthmadog, broke into his former partner's Anglesey home, before assaulting her and her current partner and damaging his car. He vaped during his sentencing hearing, which he appeared at via videolink from custody. Read the full story here. O'Boyle, 35, of Chapel Street, Caernarfon, did not tell his new partner that he is a convicted sex offender. He would stay at the home of his partner and her child, which constituted two breaches of his sex offenders register notification requirements. Read the full story here. Stephen Vickery (Image: North Wales Police) Vickery, 40, of Helens Crescent, Pentraeth, spat in a police officer's eye. He continued to resist being arrested before spitting directly into the eye of a police officer. Read the full story here. Mark Goodier (Image: North Wales Police) Goodier, 36, of Llanddaniel, Gaerwen, was initially jailed for two years and five months in March after he 'ransacked' a property, stole a car, and was found to have been driving another stolen vehicle. But he was then handed an extra prison sentence for not paying a fine of more than £800. Read the full story here. Deborah Tinsley (Image: North Wales Police) Tinsley, 57, of Maes Stanley, Bodelwyddan, broke into the Anglesey flat of a man who her partner used to work for, and who she believed owed him money. She then caused criminal damage to Liam Booth's belongings once inside his flat, including knocking over his TV and pouring bleach over his bed. Read the full story here. Jesse Crofts (Image: North Wales Police) Crofts, 28, of Holborn Road, Holyhead, was initially jailed for 18 months in April for cannabis possession and cocaine supply. But he was handed an extra jail term for not paying a fine. Read the full story here. These two people were a part of an organised crime group which targeted locations across the UK which stored large quantities of fuel. In September 2021, a site on Anglesey was targeted, and had £40,000 worth of fuel stolen from it. Read the full story here. Caleb Corr (Image: North Wales Police) Corr, 33, of Helens Crescent, Pentraeth, was jailed after setting fire to his own block of flats. He also threatened police and his neighbour with a knife. Read the full story here. Matthew Pritchard (Image: North Wales Police) Pritchard, 24, of Dol Eithin, Holyhead, was jailed for 'grooming' a girl with whom he repeatedly had sexual intercourse in public. His parents, sat in the public gallery, were told to stop shaking their heads during his sentencing hearing. Read the full story here. Pelrus Maas (Image: North Wales Police) Maas, 63, of no fixed abode, was jailed after returning to the UK via Holyhead Port within one day of being deported. He was said to have shown a 'flagrant disregard for court orders". Read the full story here. Jonathan Evans (Image: North Wales Police) Evans, 32, of Malltraeth, Bodorgan, was jailed for sexually abusing two boys. He previously worked in an Anglesey school and volunteered with the RAF Air Cadets. Read the full story here.
Scottish Sun
5 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Labour plot to silence migrant hotel critics EXPOSED – ‘spy unit' crack down on social posts slamming ‘2-tier' policing
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A GOVERNMENT "spy unit" has been used by Labour in a plot to crack down on social media critics. Whitehall officials have allegedly been flagging posts which criticise migrant hotels, immigration and "two-tier" policing. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 6 Labour has been slammed for attacking freedom of speech Credit: Getty 6 A new policing unit is set to monitor social media posts about immigration Credit: UKNIP 6 Almost 900 migrants made the journey across the Channel on Wednesday Emails from last August - during the height of the Southport riots - have exposed exchanges between civil servants and major tech firms, including TikTok. Conversations show members of the Government's National Security and Online Information Team calling on the social media giants to "assess" certain videos and content online. The same team also enforced lockdown rules during the Covid pandemic. One particular post, revealed by The Telegraph, called for greater transparency on the location of migrant hotels. Another highlighted post pointed to "two-tier policing", accusing cops of treating white protesters more harshly than others during last year's riots. It comes as protests outside asylum hotels are continuing to heat up, with crowds gathering in the likes of Norwich, Leeds and Bournemouth. A Government spokesman said: 'Free speech is a cornerstone of our democracy. The Online Safety Act protects it. "Platforms have a duty to uphold freedom of expression, and the Act places no curbs whatsoever on what adults can say and see on the internet - unless it is something that would already be illegal, offline. 'The Government has no role in deciding what actions platforms take on legal content for adults – that is a matter for them, according to their own rules. 'However we make no apologies for flagging to platforms content which is contrary to their own terms of service and which can result in violent disorder on our streets, as we saw in the wake of the horrific Southport attack.' Deputy PM Angela Rayner warned the Cabinet last week that the Government must step in to address "real concerns" about immigration. And plans for a new elite team of cops tasked with monitoring social media for anti-migrant posts emerged earlier this week. 25K migrants have arrived across the Channel so far this year despite Labour's promise to crackdown They were spotted in a letter to MPs by Dame Diana Johnson, policing minister. Detectives would be handpicked from forces across the UK to take part in the new programme amid fears of rioting as the small boats crisis escalates. The division, overseen by the Home Office, would look to "maximise social media intelligence" gathering after multiple forces were slammed for their response to last year's migrant unrest. The National Internet Intelligence Investigations team would work out of the National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC) in Westminster. The NPoCC provides the central planning for forces across the UK in terms of "nationally significant protests" and civil disorder. However, critics have labelled the social media policing as "disturbing" and questioned if they further restrict freedom of speech. Speaking on the plans, Dame Diana Johnson said the Government was "carefully considering recommendations" made by the Commons home affairs committee. 'This team will provide a national capability to monitor social media intelligence and advise on its use to inform local operational decision-making," she added. Dame Diana was responding to an inquiry by the committee into cops' handling of riots last summer. It had recommended setting up a new policing system with 'enhanced capacity to monitor and respond to social media at the national level'. Tory councillor Raymond Connolly's wife Lucy was jailed for 31 months last October after posting comments on her X account. The posts were made just hours after evil Axel Rudakubana murdered three girls in the Merseyside town on July 29 last year. Ms Connolly shared a call to arms following the deaths of Bebe King, six, nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, last July. The 41-year-old childminder wrote: "Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******* for all I care... "If that makes me racist, so be it." Posts wrongly claimed monster Rudakubana was a Muslim asylum seeker when he was actually born in Cardiff and raised Christian. Ms Connelly's punishment sparked fury across the political divide. Furious Brits noted that despite the former child minder quickly deleting her post, she remains in prison while paedos such as Hugh Edwards escaped jail time. A record number 25,000 people have come to the UK on small boats this year, with 898 arriving on just Wednesday alone. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage slammed the fresh data, saying: "This means more hotels, costs and more people who should not be here. "The public have had enough." The figure is up 51 per cent on this point last year, and is 73 per cent higher than in 2023. 6 Lucy Connolly urged rioters to set migrant hotels alight 6 She published the comments on her X account Credit:
