Cocaine gang that hid drugs in cereal tin jailed for 25 years

Another man has also been jailed and five others sentenced after a kilo of cocaine and £45,000 in cash were found during drugs busts back in 2015.

Out of ten men given prison sentences in relation to the drugs supply at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on Monday, four were from Stone while a man from Stafford was also punished for his role.

Searches across the county by police back in 2015 led to £45,000 cash being found in a hidden compartment of a van and a kilo of cocaine discovered in a search of a kitchen.

A quarter kilo of cocaine was also found stashed in a cereal tin, during a search of a car.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court was told that the case was uncovered on August 12 2015 when a silver Mercedes Vito van was observed pulling up outside a property in Longhope Drive, Stone.

James Jackson, aged 49, of The Oaks, Wirral, got out of the van and went inside carrying a blue and white bag.

He left a few minutes later with a supermarket carrier bag.

The van was stopped a short distance away and a supermarket carrier bag was found in a hidden compartment containing £45,350 in banknotes.

When this money was examined forensically it was found to have prints matching to Daniel Felgate, aged 34, of Wedgwood Avenue, Stone.

As officers forced entry to his home, Felgate jumped from the upstairs bathroom window and ran off but after a short chase he was arrested.

Another man, Ian Mycock, aged 35, of Hardy Road, Stafford was stopped nearby and found to be in possession of two grip seal bags containing cocaine with a value of £110.

Felgate has been sentenced to seven years in prison while Mycock pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and was given a 12-month conditional discharge, £20 victim surcharge and £130 costs.

Simon Richardson aged 36, of Longhope Drive, Stone and Wayne Bond of Walton Grange, Stafford Road, Stone, were both at the address and in possession of mobile phones with text messages linked to drug supply on them.

A search of the property began and officers found around one kilo of cocaine (valued at £43,000 to £57,000) in the kitchen.

The cocaine was inside the blue and white bag Jackson had taken into the property.

Richardson was sentenced to four years and six months while Bond was given five years.

The case developed further on August 25 2015 when a white Nissan Navara pick-up was stopped on the M6 travelling southbound between junctions 19 and 18.

The driver was Lee Edwards, aged 21, of Dilhorne Road, Forsbrook, while Thomas Cotterill, aged 22, of Victory Crescent, Cheadle and Joseph Plimmer, aged 20, of Woodlands Lane, Blythe Bridge, were passengers.

Under the front passenger seat was a cereal tin, containing what 243 grams of cocaine with a value between £10,000 and £24,300.

The tin was later examined for fingerprints and found to have two marks identified to Russell Ford, aged 36, of The Old Factory, Rosemount, Oxton, Birkenhead.

Cotterill, Edwards and Plimmer were each ordered to undertake 250 hours’ unpaid work and to pay £400 costs.

Edwards was given a two-year suspended sentence, while Ford received two years seven months.