Oxford police found £8,000 of drugs at Friars Wharf flat, court hears

Adam Bloor, 36, of Friars Wharf, Oxford, and Paul Hutton, 39, of George Street, Reading, both deny possession with intent to supply Class A drugs – heroin and cocaine – and being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs.

Prosecutors at Oxford Crown Court claim that they were part of a drug dealing enterprise selling crack and heroin to drug users across the city.

Outlining the case before a jury panel yesterday, prosecutor Dominic Benthall said that the operation was first found out after a police raid at a flat occupied by Bloor at Friars Wharf.

Shortly before 9am on July 14, 2017, jurors were told, officers stormed into the flat which is just metres away from the River Thames.

In body camera footage played to the court officers are seen using a ramming tool to smash the lower panel of a doorway before ducking underneath to get inside.

Once there, the court heard, three men and a woman were found inside – including Bloor and Hutton.

Also inside the house, which was described as untidy with various items of rubbish strewn about, were two packages which prosecutors say police seized, suspecting drugs to be found inside.

Analysing the contents, police said they found Class A crack and heroin worth a total of about £8,780.

The total stash of drugs, jurors were told, was made up of one package of heroin totalling 14.7g, worth about £1,800 on the street, and another made up of 44.4g of cocaine, said to be worth about £5,340.

Officers found a further 67 cling film wraps of crack cocaine, weighing 11g and worth about £1,300, as well as 34 cigarette paper wraps of heroin weighing 2.76g and worth about £340.

Police also seized a set of digital scales and two rolls of cling film from the house, jurors were told.

Both men were arrested for their role in the alleged drugs plot, prosecutors said, and during police interview Hutton produced a prepared statement.

That statement read: “I deny these allegations, I was staying at the property in question with a friend and was not there at the time the police came.

“I knew there were drugs at the property because I accidentally knocked some off the counter and picked them back up.”

His statement claimed that his finger prints would as a result be found on some wraps.

Bloor, meanwhile, claimed that he was not involved in the supply of Class A drugs, and had not known that there were any drugs in the flat at the time the police officers arrived.

Bloor and Hutton deny all charges and the trial - expected to last three days - continues.