Four drug dealers have been jailed for a total of almost 14 years following a police investigation.
Nathan Degia, Joshua Davies, Wayne Ayres and Simon Patterson were all arrested as part of warrants carried out by Leicestershire Police in September last year.
This followed months of investigative work into a ‘drugs line’ being run in the Leicestershire area.
Yesterday (Wednesday 19 January) at Leicester Crown Court, the four were sentenced:
Degia, 36, of Walpole Court, Leicester, was sentenced to three years and four months in prison
Davies, 24, of Crescent Road, Lutterworth, was sentenced to five years in prison
Ayres, 35, of Swithland Avenue, Leicester, was sentenced to two years in prison
Patterson, 41, of Hinckley Road, Leicester, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison
Enquiries carried out by police had led to phone lines being identified which were being used to orchestrate the sale of class A drugs in the area, namely crack cocaine and heroin.
The investigation led to Degia being identified as controlling the line with Davies, operating it. Both Degia and Davies were arrested at their home addresses with crack cocaine and heroin being recovered from both addresses. Cash was also recovered from Degia’s address.
Ayres and Patterson were identified as street dealers and were found dealing in the Narborough Road area by police on 6 September this year where they were arrested. Ayres was found with a bag of crack cocaine in his hand.
Patterson tried to swallow a bag of class A drugs at the scene but this was recovered from his mouth. The bag was found to contain crack cocaine and heroin.
A search at Patterson’s address following the arrest led to the recovery of crack cocaine, heroin and cash as well as business cards which were found.
Clockwise from top left - Wayne Ayres, Joshua Davies, Simon Patterson and Nathan Deagia
The four men were interviewed and later charged with two counts of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs – crake cocaine and heroin.
Davies, Degia and Patterson were also charged with possession of criminal property under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
All four pleaded guilty to their charges.
Detective Constable Damian Young said: “Degia, Davies, Ayres and Patterson believed they could carry out this drug dealing ‘business’ while evading police. But following investigative work, we were able to bring them to court where they all admitted their involvement.
“Drug dealers cause harm to our society and we remain committed to bringing those involved in drug offending to the courts. We urge anyone who has any information regarding drug offences to report it to us so that we can investigate and take the necessary action.
You can report online at www.leics.police.uk or by calling 101. Always call 999 in an emergency.”