A DRUG DEALER has been handed an 18-month prison sentence after he was caught carrying a machete in Barry.
Luke Symons, 33, of Ely, Cardiff, was stopped by police while travelling in his car on Port East Road during July 2024, where officers found the weapon on the driver’s side along with mobile phones containing drug-related messages.
Appearing at Cardiff Crown Court, Symons pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine, being concerned in the supply of cannabis and possession of a knife blade or sharply pointed article in public.
The court heard how married father-of-three Symons suffers from PTSD after being held by Houthi rebels in Yemen for five years without trial on spy charges.
Symons had moved to the country in his late teens after converting to Islam, where he took the name Jamal Abdullah and went on to work as a teacher.
At the time of his release in 2022, the then-Home Secretary Liz Truss said: “He was allegedly mistreated, in solitary confinement, and refused visits by his family.”
Prosecutor Martha Smith-Higgins told the court: “The defendant told police the machete was already there when he bought the car from a person he would not name.”
Symons has previous convictions and was handed a suspended sentence for driving offences in November 2024.
Dan Jones, mitigating on behalf of Symons said: “This was a one-man operation. His mental health was not good at the time, and he was hanging around with the wrong crowd.”
Mr Jones asked the judge to take into account Symons’ guilty pleas, the “steps he has taken to rehabilitate himself”, the adverse experiences he had as a child and the delay in the case coming to court.
During sentencing, Judge Paul Horton told Symons he had read about his “dreadful” experience in Yemen and said: “You were keeping a machete close to hand.
“Having that weapon with you is a serious aggravating factor, I’m sure it was linked to the dangerous business you were involved in. Class A drugs cause misery in our society.”
Symons was told he would serve half his 18-month sentence in prison before being released on licence.
By Marcus Stead – News Reporter
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