Jailed: Dealers used homes of vulnerable Shrewsbury residents to sell drugs
Three key county lines dealers who used the homes of vulnerable residents to sell drugs have been put behind bars for a total of 12 years.
Some of the householders were evicted from their Shrewsbury homes which were then used as bases for illicit drug trading which netted the criminal gang thousands of pounds, a court heard.
Shane Churchill, 30, Luke Golding, 20, and Jahvade Williams, 23, pleaded guilty to an offence of possession of heroin and an offence of possession of crack cocaine in the town in 2017.
They were nabbed by the West Mercia local organised crime team who were investigating a drugs conspiracy network operating in the area using a mobile phone registered in Dudley under a fictitious name. It was used to collect text orders from addicts.
Judge Anthony Lowe said Churchill’s actions were aggravated by the fact the premises were targeted and he was also caught supplying drugs while on bail for other matters.
Prosecuting barrister Mr Darron Whitehead said: “This investigation involved the police looking into trafficking of class A drugs across the Shropshire border.
"These defendants in our submission were key members of a group who were instructed in the chain of supply for controlled drugs.”
When they arrested following a swoop, in Pool Rise, Springfield, Churchill had £1,037 in cash, and Williams had about £400.
When the property was searched a further £700 was discovered in the loft and 2.3 grams of heroin was also found.
Churchill, of Stourbridge Road, Dudley, was jailed for four years and 11 months; Golding, a serving youth detainee, of Lupin Road, also Dudley, was sentenced to three years and six months youth detention to run concurrently with a five-year sentence for a separate matter.
Williams, of Peel Road, Tividale, was jailed for three years.
