Ben Garvey, a solicitor specialising in criminal defence, received a three-year-and-six-month prison sentence at Bristol Crown Court for supplying cocaine and steroids. His conviction included drug-related offences and obstructing justice proceedings. The extended custodial term shows the court’s assessment of the severity of his actions.
Garvey was practising as a criminal defence solicitor when South Wales Police launched an investigation into Daniel Baker, who was arrested in August 2021 in connection with separate cocaine supply offences. He and his firm represented Baker at the time, and the arrest occurred several months before officers searched Garvey’s home in September 2021.
Analysis of mobile phones and other devices revealed that the solicitor himself was involved in supplying drugs. He was identified as an active member of a 17-person WhatsApp group that served as a coordination hub for discussing the sourcing and supply of cocaine between 2020 and 2021.
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A search of Garvey’s residence in September 2021 uncovered additional mobile devices and steroids, a Class C drug. Police also found that he had acted as an intermediary for criminal messages between Baker and another man, Jake Blackburn, while Baker was in custody.
Following a trial in July and August this year, Garvey was convicted of being concerned in the supply of cocaine and steroids, assisting or encouraging the supply of cocaine, and perverting the course of justice. Baker and Blackburn were also convicted of offences relating to cocaine supply and perverting the course of justice.
Chief Inspector Russ Jenkins of South Wales Police commented on the case, saying Garvey “had a clear duty to uphold the integrity of the criminal justice system” but instead “chose to abuse that position of trust by actively engaging in the very criminality he was professionally bound to challenge.”
