Polish national Radoslaw Gasiorowski has been sentenced to 30 weeks in prison in his absence after police watched him put a package of cannabis worth around £17,000 into the boot of his Mercedes AMG car outside a convenience store. His whereabouts are currently unknown, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Police surveillance at Spar car park
Cardiff Crown Court heard that on January 7, 2021, a male drove from London to Birmingham, where he collected a consignment of cannabis before heading to Newport. In the car park of the Spar shop on Basseleg Road, the male rendezvoused with Gasiorowski, and a package of cannabis worth around £17,000 was put into the boot of the defendant's Mercedes AMG car.
Unknown to the parties involved, the transaction was being watched by police, who then moved in and detained the men. Gasiorowski tried to throw the keys to his Mercedes away, but they were recovered.
Defendant skipped bail and failed to attend sentencing
The defendant was subsequently charged with conspiracy to supply cannabis but skipped bail, and the case proceeded without him. Radoslaw Gasiorowski, aged 40, formerly of Brockley Close, Little Stoke, Gloucestershire, had previously been convicted in his absence of conspiracy to supply cannabis when the case returned to court for sentencing. The defendant did not attend the sentencing hearing.
The court heard Polish national Gasiorowski has two previous convictions for four offences: theft and possession of a firearm in Poland in 2016, and forging a prescription and driving without insurance in Germany in 2019.
Recorder's remarks on sentencing
Kieran Galvin, for Gasiorowski, said the defendant was aware of the sentencing hearing but had chosen not to attend. He said he had not been able to take instructions from his client and said he was "not satisfied with the authenticity" of medical documents which had been submitted to the court.
Recorder Clare Pickthall, who presided over the trial, said there was no evidence as to whether the defendant had been acting as a courier for others or had been collecting the cannabis for his own onward supply operation either in Gloucestershire or South Wales. However, she said it was clear he was trusted with cannabis worth a significant amount of money. Gasiorowski was sentenced to 30 weeks in prison. The court heard the male who drove the cannabis from Birmingham to Newport was also charged, but his whereabouts are also unknown.
