Four out of five Shropshire heroin and cocaine dealers - who made £300k - ordered to pay back £10 each

Proceeds of crime orders of more than £60,000 were made against the five gang members at Shrewsbury Crown Court. But because they have no assets, four will have to pay just £10 and the fifth the £517 taken from him when he was arrested.

However, West Mercia Police’s Economic Crime Unit stressed after the case it was a life debt and the money could be recouped if circumstances changed. Ryan Langshaw and Jack Ross, from Shrewsbury but of no fixed address, Jake Dykstra, of Bury-St-Edmunds, Jake Burrows, of no fixed address, and James Humphries, 23, from Liverpool, were jailed for between five and 10 years for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs in June.

The court heard at the time they were involved to different degrees in a sophisticated mobile phone enterprise titled “Mo” that was used to sell heroin and cocaine wraps in ‘buy one, get two’ deals to addicts in Shrewsbury and Whitchurch.

Some of the gang had with links to Liverpool’s Eastside Speke Group that was operating in the county from bases in Merseyside and North Wales.

None of the men appeared in person at court yesterday with only Dykstra appearing by video link.

Confiscation orders made by Judge Peter Barrie were £65,517 to Dykstra, with £517 to pay immediately; Ross, £65,282, to pay £10; Humphries, £61,298, to pay £10; Burrows, £65,000 to pay £10; and Langshaw, £65,000, to pay £10.

He said: “This is not a final payment of £10 but that is all that the unit is able to recoup. They have no assets that they can pay.”

Speaking after the case, Dave Andrews from the economic crime unit said: “Confiscation orders are a life debt. We can pursue the order at any time. If their circumstances change we will revisit the order and return to court to ensure they settle their debts.”

At the hearing of the drugs case, Judge Barrie said that the drugs structure in Shrewsbury and Whitchurch had been well established and fully operational with Humphries, and Burrows playing leading roles. Dykstra was also sentenced in June for drugs offences in Herteford and Dorset, and for assisting an offender.

That related to helping killer Declan Graves to escape following a stabbing in Shrewsbury. He drove Graves to Liverpool following the murder of Michael Warham, 16, in Meole Brace, Shrewsbury, during a confrontation between rival groups.

The network came to light during a police investigation into a ‘turf war’ between rival Merseyside drugs gangs in 2016.