Rugeley drug dealer, 41, jailed for over four years

Paul Hough, of Queen Street, Rugeley, pleaded guilty to various charges and was sentenced to 50 months in prison at Stafford Crown Court.

The 41-year-old was sentenced on Monday over charges relating to two separate incidents, one in November 2019 and a second in October last year.

At about 11.50am on November 28, 2019, a silver Vauxhall Astra was stopped in the car park of Aldi on Market Street, Rugeley, the court was told.

Hough was found to have drugs inside the car and a search of his home address uncovered a holdall full of cocaine, cannabis, scales and other paraphernalia used in the supply of drugs.

The value of the drugs was thought to be around £5,000, while around £2,000 in cash was also seized.

At about 12pm on October 13 last year, a blue Ford Fiesta was stopped just off Forge Road in Rugeley, with Hough as a front seat passenger.

When searched, Hough was found to have a small amount of cocaine, cash and a mobile phone on him.

Another search of Hough’s home address following this incident uncovered approximately £1,000 worth of cocaine, £1,000 worth of cannabis, £1,000 in cash, plus scales and more drugs paraphernalia used in the supply of drugs.

Hough was sentenced to 30 months for possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of Class A and two months for possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of Class B, to run concurrently, for the November 2019 incident.

For the October 2020 incident, Hough was sentenced to 20 months for possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of Class A, to run consecutively, and two months for possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of Class B, to run concurrently.

On top of this, Hough was also sentenced to 20 months for being concerned in the supply of cocaine and two months for being concerned in the supply of cannabis, both to run concurrently.

DS Jon Bradbury from Staffordshire Police’s Disruption Team South said: "We are delighted with the sentencing of Hough for his involvement in the supply of drugs in Staffordshire.

"We hope this serves as a warning to anyone else currently involved in similar activities, or perhaps thinking of becoming so.

"We will continue to pro-actively seek out and disrupt all drugs activity on the streets of Staffordshire in our attempts to make the communities we serve a better place to live."