Preston Crown Court jailed eight members of a county lines gang that supplied heroin and crack cocaine in Barrow and Manchester.[1] The conspiracy ran between September 2022 and January 2023.[2] Jordan Baker, 28, of Salford, who played a leading role, was jailed for seven years.[2] Sarah Sayle, 50, was jailed for five years and eight months, John Thompson, 44, for five years and five months, and Kirsty Davidson, 36, for four years and eight months.[2] Moneeb Sheikh, 26, was jailed for two years and seven months, Hannah Feeley, 25, and Latham Burke, 50, for three years each, and Steven Payne, 54, for two years and six months.[2] Sheldon McDuffus, 26, of Eccles, received 18 months in prison suspended for two years for possession with intent to supply cannabis.[2]

The court heard the conspiracy used children to courier Class A drugs.[1] Baker sent bulk advertisement messages to local drug users, prepared large amounts of Class A drugs for sale and coordinated other members of the gang.[2] A drugs expert valued the line’s supply in Barrow over four months at more than £110,000, with a total weight of crack cocaine and heroin of more than 1kg.[3]

Detective Constable Graeme Benson of Cumbria Police’s serious organised crime unit called the conspiracy complex and far-reaching and said it exploited children to exploit drug users in the Barrow area.[3] The final sentences, including McDuffus’s, were handed down on 15 July 2024.[3] A tenth defendant, Isaiah Gunter, 24, is due to be sentenced in September 2024.[3]