PRESS RELEASE : Drug dealer, O’Neil Pendley, has sentence more than doubled [February 2023]

The press release issued by the Attorney General’s Office on 20 February 2023.

A drug dealer who supplied heroin and cocaine has had his sentence more than doubled following a hearing at the Court of Appeal on 17 February 2023 under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme and will now serve 6 years and 3 months in prison.

O’Neil Pendley, 30, pleaded guilty to two counts of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs.

Pendley dealt heroin and cocaine on the streets in the Worcester area and has previous relevant convictions for drug offences.

Pendley was originally sentenced to 2 years and 9 months’ imprisonment at Worcester Crown Court on 09 December 2022.

The Solicitor General Michael Tomlinson KC MP then referred Pendley’s sentence to the Court of Appeal because he believed it was unduly lenient.

Speaking after the hearing at the Court of Appeal today, the Solicitor General said:

The class A drugs that Pendley supplied are dangerous and ruin lives.

I welcome the Court’s decision to order Pendley to serve a longer prison term, and hope the new sentence sends a clear message that the money made from dealing drugs will never be worth the punishment.