Swindon drug dealer who cuckooed victim jailed

A Swindon drug dealer has been jailed after being caught with Class A drugs worth more than £100,000.

Simon Huckvale, 36, of White Castle, Toothill, appeared at Swindon Crown Court on June 9 for sentencing after pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply crack cocaine, cocaine and cannabis, being concerned in the supply of heroin, and for possessing criminal property.

He was jailed for four years.

On December 29 last year, officers from the Swindon Local Policing Tasking Team (LPTT) attended an address in Toothill, West Swindon where it was believed that an occupant was a victim of cuckooing.

Officers have entered the property and immediately detained Huckvale who had attempted to run at officers before trying to flee.

He was arrested and subsequent property searches recovered more than 230g of cocaine, 529g of crack cocaine, 397g of heroin, and 1.1kg of cannabis.

This quantity of drugs could have yielded over £120,000.

Huckvale was charged and remanded into custody.

PC Thomas of the LPTT said: “This incident involved the taking over of a vulnerable person’s address, known as cuckooing, for the purposes of supplying drugs within the Swindon area.

“This practice often involves the most vulnerable in our society, who are then controlled by the criminal through the use of threats, leaving them feeling trapped in their own homes.

“We also know from speaking to members of the public that Huckvale’s arrest has had a significant impact on the supply of drugs within the community.

“We will always actively seek out those within the community who are looking to cause harm to vulnerable people to enable their drug dealing and criminal activities, and we will continue to target drug suppliers like Huckvale to make our town safer for all.”