Two men from Merseyside travelled 270 miles south in a county lines operation that saw them cuckooing two drug addicts and using their flat to distribute class A drugs.
A lockdown police raid at a flat in Torquay uncovered a county lines drug operation involving two Merseyside men Harry Beardsmore and Brandon Murray who were using a flat as a base where they could package and sell heroin and cocaine. The legal tenants of the flat were drug addicts who lived in the bedroom while the two men slept in the living room with more than 20g of cocaine and heroin as well as £1,500 in cash being recovered.
Beardsmore, 21, has been jailed for four and a half years at Exeter Crown Court after he was convicted of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs and possession of criminal property. Murray is to be sentenced at a later date, Devon Live reports.
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Prosecutor Mr Joss Ticehurst said the offences happened during lockdown on June 22, 2020. Police saw a drug deal taking place in an area close to the flats. The man involved, Murray, was traced back to the flat. When police went inside they found Beardsmore in the living area of the flat and the tenants in the bedroom.
"They were in the flat having coming from Liverpool to deal drugs," said Mr Ticehurst. "It was a county lines operation bringing drugs from Liverpool to Torquay and supplying on the street. They were using the flat as a base to store and package drugs and deal on the streets."
Beardsmore had £1,000 in his pocket and £320 in a Nike bag. He refused to give police the PIN to his phone to check his messages and made no comment in the interview.
The defendant, of Bedford Road, Birkenhead, denied the offences but was found guilty at a trial in February. He has drug offences on his record and had only just been released from prison on licence when he committed his latest crimes.
Mr Brian Fitzherbert, defending, said Beardsmore was only 19 at the time. He had been released from jail with no bank account or job prospects and had slid back into crime. He had used the last two years to get his life back on track. He is working as a roofer and in a stable relationship.
"He was a foot soldier," said Mr Fitzherbert. "He was a young man from Liverpool sent down to do some of the dirty work."
Recorder Kevin De Haan said: "You have previous convictions for virtually identical offences and you were on licence at the time you committed these three offences. You are relatively young and you were very young when these offences were committed. The problem is you obviously got into this enterprise and you knew where that led.
"If you come before the court again you will face a mandatory sentence. If you don't get off this particular wagon there will simply be longer and longer sentences."
