Notorious ASBO yob jailed
A NOTORIOUS yob who went on the run during his trial for supplying cocaine has been jailed for five-and-a-half years.
Asa Martin was convicted in his absence of the drugs offence – possessing more than £6,000 of cocaine – then captured.
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Asa Martin
Martin, who was one of the first people in Gloucestershire to be given an anti-social behaviour order, was jailed at Bristol Crown Court yesterday.
The 24-year-old, of Podsmead Road, Gloucester, stood trial with Adrian Parker, 27, of Innsworth Lane, Gloucester, who was also convicted of possessing crack cocaine with intent to supply.
Parker had previously admitted a further charge of wounding. He was also jailed for five-and-a-half years.
A third defendant, Warren Webb, 32, of Stanley Road, Gloucester, who drove the pair to collect the drugs, was acquitted of the same drugs charge.
Kerry Barker, prosecuting, said Webb had driven the defendants from Gloucester to Birmingham in July 2008 to collect a stash of crack cocaine worth £6,460 in street deals.
He said: "The Crown's case is that this was intended for supply to others on a commercial basis given the quantity of crack cocaine found.
"Parker denies he was intending to supply but says he was fully aware the drugs were in the vehicle."
The court had previously heard how the defendants were stopped by police who had been tracking their movements as they returned to Gloucester.
The vehicle had come off the motorway at junction nine near Tewkesbury when they were stopped.
Mr Barker said that six months earlier, in January 2008, Parker smashed a Schnapps bottle over the head of a man at the Liquid nightclub in Gloucester.
Kannan Siva, defending Martin, said his client had a troublesome past, particularly his teenage years, and because of that his trial had to be moved out of Gloucestershire. He said Martin made a "foolish" decision to abscond during his trial.
David Martin, defending Parker, said the defendant had a "great deal of charm and good in him", but every now and again did something foolish.
He said Parker was remorseful for wounding the man in the nightclub and now got on well with his victim.
Jailing the pair, Judge Susan Darwall-Smith told them their drugs enterprise was a "well-organised, pre-arranged, joint plan".
She said: "This was a plan to purchase a substantial amount of crack cocaine from a supplier in Birmingham, to be supplied on a commercial basis.
"You both arranged for a driver, Warren Webb, to take you from Gloucester to Birmingham and back.
"The cocaine, divided into deals, was worth about £6,000. You are aware this is a serious offence and warrants a substantial prison sentence."
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by Cheyennewray
Wednesday, May 09 2012, 11:07AM
“none of you have a clue do you.. most of you don't even know asa martin, so how can you sit there at home, on your bottoms, Sl*gging him off like this? Asa is one of the most generous kindest people i know, he would do anything for anybody. yeah he may have come to bad terms with the police, but that's only because he was supporting his family at home, and putting food on the table because of personal reasons. asa is really an amazing person. if you got to know him instead of reading the paper which makes it sound ten times worse than what it actually is, none of you would have a bad word to say about it. most of you are all hypacrits anyway.. acting like you have never done a bad thing in your life to protect your family. and the rest of you, well you don't know what its like with your perfect little lives. but asa's turned his life around for the good, and so has sean. so why don't you all keep your beaks out of it, unless you have something nice to say about my big brother. because you don't know the half of it.”
by william69_
Friday, January 06 2012, 11:34AM
“Dee Dee u are a hater who dnt know nothing i know both of them and they got snitched on themselves by people like u and they got 11yrs between them 4 sumthing wat people get 2yrs 4 and u talk about parker with a blue giro that jus goes 2 show u dnt know him so stop hatein and get a life warren the taxi driver was on the blue giro”
by Dee Dee, GLos
Monday, December 13 2010, 12:20PM
“your all going on about Asa what about Mr Parker?!?! First word springs to mind when it comes to him - BLUE GIRO! He fulfilled his use to the police so now they've done what should have been done so many years ago and locked the little ****** away. Lets hope he stays there and rots! Who cares if they are doing it to support there families and pets they should do what us normal honest folk do and get a proper job! Scum is what they are, and prison is where they should stay, off the streets unable to hurt anyone again.”
by Hmmm, Glos
Wednesday, August 04 2010, 2:55PM
“Asa is actually a really nice person despite what you all may think, he isnt the only person to sell druge you know, there are plenty more out there, just some get caught, and as for doing a runner maybe he just fancied a holiday before going to prison. Asa martin is a legand. :D”
by kelly, .
Thursday, March 18 2010, 11:40AM
“hi”
by connor gamble, cheltenham
Thursday, March 18 2010, 11:38AM
“asa is one of those guys, get to know him well, become friends, he'll be good to you if your good to him. he's creating money for his family to eat, and his pets which is more than others are doing, especially with the credit crunch and the recession x”
by alicia brown, cheltenham
Thursday, March 18 2010, 11:37AM
“conor will you marry me? x3”
by T, Cheltenham
Wednesday, March 17 2010, 1:27PM
“Asa is actually a good guy who really doesn't deserve to be portrayed in such a way. There will always be a demand for drugs no matter how many young lives you waste by judicial sentencing, there will be many other to replace them and fill the void.”
by connor gamble, cheltenham
Wednesday, March 17 2010, 12:52PM
“hi im connor, attending pittville secondary school. i think SPOT is friends with the police too or he may be a GRASS because he always get caught, but never sentenced.”
by Mal, Local
Sunday, March 14 2010, 9:59AM
“Observer,you may be right,so may I.
Maybe we could have trial 'Dirty Dozen' Camps.
Only until our cities,towns and villages are clear of major crimes.of course.”