Man linked to Telford murder victim locked up for £9,000 drugs haul

Reece Garratt, 22, was arrested after running from a car that had been driven by Mr Dorsett after being pulled over by police in the town.

Garratt pleaded guilty at Shrewsbury Crown Court to an offence of possession of cannabis.

Mr Kevin Jones, prosecuting, said: “Officers stopped a Vauxhall Astra being driven by Tyrone Dorsett on August 25, 2017.

He was subsequently murdered in April 2018.

Mr Jones said: “He was being spoken to by the police when they saw the passenger door open and someone running away.

"Fortunately a member of the public saw someone matching Garratt’s description discarding something over a wall.

"They had the good sense to recover it and hand it to the police. It was 860 grams of cannabis in one package and valued at between £3,500 and £6,000. If if was broken down into small deals it could be worth £8,600."

Knife

At the hearing yesterday Garratt also admitted a separate offence of possession of a knife in Telford Shopping Centre on March 30, 2018.

This matter related to a street fight near the bus station.

Garratt initially denied both charges, but changed his plea to guilty ahead of the trial yesterday.

Mr Robert Edwards, mitigating barrister, told the court his client had conceded he was in the wrong.

For possession of cannabis Garratt was jailed for six months and for possession of the knife there was no separate penalty.

Earlier this year he was jailed for 18 months for violent disorder relating to a separate fight near Shrewsbury’s Fever nightclub in 2017.

CCTV showed him in a group kicking two other males.

Sentencing him Mr Recorder Timothy Raggatt QC said: “As you are already a serving prisoner the extra months will be consecutive.”

He ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs and the knife.

A sum of £60 cash seized will be used by West Mercia Police for community funds.

Mr Dorsett, 20, was shot dead in Birmingham on April 15 last year near Birmingham City Football Club’s St Andrew’s stadium.