A CONVICTED drug dealer who from a Liverpool jail had tried to stop a businessman giving evidence in a blackmail trial against him and others has had 21 months added to his existing 14-and-a-half-year sentence.

Patryk Dziewiatkowski, 24, of Smithfield Road, Wrexham, was told by Judge Huw Rees: "There was intimidation which was persistent and included threats. This was a deliberate attempt to dissuade the witness from giving evidence.”

The judge said the victim, who owned shops in Wrexham and Telford and had been offered £5,000 in an unsuccessful bid to stop him attending court, feared for his family. Caernarfon crown court heard three phone calls had been made which included a death threat.

Ian Geary, 50, described as a doorman, of The Uplands, Palace Fields, Runcorn, was jailed for 21 months. Mason Gill, 44, of Bourne Street, Eastbourne, was locked up for 18 months. The trio admitted conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

Prosecuting, Karl Scholz said Dziewiatkowski, a Polish national, was due to stand trial last June for blackmail after being arrested at Altcourse jail. But Geary visited him in prison and the prosecutor said he was the “prime player” in the conspiracy although Dziewiatkowski would have benefited.

Mr Scholz said police found Geary’s fingerprints in a phone box after he called the victim. Gill had withheld his number when he contacted the businessman but the victim’s phone service provider kept details of incoming calls. Gill had used a phone registered in his name.

“What’s remarkable is Gill was prepared to put his own liberty in jeopardy for the sum of money he was paid. Inquiries have revealed the amount of money was less than £100,” counsel said.

Mr Scholz said Dziewiatkowski “quite clearly is a dangerous man.” His earliest release date for his previous offending was March 2023. “It’s highly probable he will be deported. What’s not known is when he will be deported,” the barrister added.

Julian Nutter, defending, said there was “another side” to Dziewiatkowski. He was making efforts in prison to improve himself. He qualified as a car mechanic in Poland and wished he never came to Britain. “He does want to lead an honest and industrious life,” the lawyer insisted.

Duncan Bould, for Geary, said he behaved “completely out of his depth.” He was hardworking and the offence was an “aberration.”

Simon Mintz, defending Gill, said the personal trainer’s involvement was “peripheral.”