East Mids Crime Group Jailed

17 August 2011, 14:49 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

A 15-month police investigation centered on Nottingham and Derby which has seen around four-hundred-thousand pounds worth of drugs seized has come to an end today in the courts.

In total fourteen people have been sentenced over yesterday and today at Nottingham Crown Court to more than 70 years imprisonment. A fifteenth man will be sentenced on 15 September.

The investigation focused on offences committed between the 1^st February 2009 and 25^th March 2010. An array of controlled substances, adulterants and drugs paraphernalia were subject to extensive forensic examination during the course of the investigation, which saw over 450 fingerprints from the crime group recovered and identified. Over 2,000 items of evidence were also seized throughout the inquiry. The total quantities of drugs recovered were:

• 2.1 kg Heroin worth £226,774
• 0.55kg Cocaine worth £42,595
• 4.03 kg Cannabis worth £119,850
• 6,233 pills of Piperazine (an Ecstasy like substance) worth £19,000

The group hired a container which was located within an industrial estate called the Total Trailer and Technology Transport Yard on Redfield Road in Nottingham to store, mix and facilitate the movement of the controlled drugs. The defendants regularly made journeys to this location from the Sinfin area of Derby, where the majority of them lived.

Fifteen people pleaded guilty in relation to a number of charges brought in connection with the operation:

• Omar Farook, aged 27, from Jackson Avenue, Mickleover, Derby – conspiracy to supply Heroin, Cocaine, Ecstasy and Cannabis.
• Jaswant Padda, aged 30, from Shakespeare Street, Sinfin, Derby – conspiracy to supply Heroin, Cocaine, Ecstasy and Cannabis.
• Daniel Wheatley, aged 22, from Wordsworth Drive, Sinfin, Derby – conspiracy to supply Heroin, Cocaine, Ecstasy and Cannabis.
• Jason Scattergood, aged 20, from Kingsley Street, Sinfin, Derby – conspiracy to supply Heroin, Cocaine, Ecstasy and Cannabis.
• Kevin O’Brien, aged 33, of no fixed address – conspiracy to supply Heroin, Cocaine and Cannabis.
• Sanjit Kalirai, aged 26, from Rufford Avenue, Bramcote, Nottingham – conspiracy to supply Heroin and Cocaine
• Ashley Ainsworth, aged 21, from Sinfin Lane, Sinfin, Derby – conspiracy to supply Ecstasy and Cannabis.
• Amandeep Sidhu, aged 29, from Pingreaves Drive, Chellaston, Derby  – conspiracy to supply Cocaine, possession with intent Cocaine and Cannabis.
• Mohammed Sajawal, aged 29, from Harehills Avenue, Harehills, Leeds – conspiracy to supply Ecstasy.
• Razwan Mahmood, aged 19, from Northumberland Street, Normanton, Derby – conspiracy to supply Heroin.
• Shaibazz Asghar, aged 19, from Lyndhurst Street, Normanton, Derby  – conspiracy to supply Cannabis, possession with intent to supply Cocaine.
• Phillip Clarke, aged 20, from Shakespeare Street, Sinfin, Derby – conspiracy to supply Heroin and Cannabis.
• Harjit Sandhu, aged 32, from Stroma Close, Sinfin, Derby – conspiracy to supply Ecstasy.
• Ashley Bryan, aged 23, from Shakespeare Street, Sinfin, Derby   – conspiracy to supply Cannabis.
• James Logan Smith, aged 29, Sightshill Green, Edinburgh – conspiracy to supply Ecstasy.

Fourteen of the men have now been sentenced, with Amandeep Sidhu scheduled for sentencing next month (15 September).

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Jonathan Teare said: “All of you were part of an organised group of criminals who were involved, in different ways, in the supply of drugs. Some of you were only on the fringes, some of you at or near the centre, but there can be no doubt that it was organised towards the supply of very large quantities of drugs.

“It is difficult to calculate the exact amounts of drugs that were supplied, or that were intended to be supplied. Some substantial amounts were recovered, as were more substantial amounts of substances used to cut the purity.

“Those towards the controlling centre were operating, no doubt, in the expectation of large financial rewards. Rewards which could only come from the suffering and misery of others, and the impoverishing effect on their communities, by the spreading curse of addiction to illegal drugs.”

Senior Investigating Officer, DI Joe Elliott from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit, said: “The tentacles of this crime group were far-reaching. They had associations to other criminals in different parts of the country and the ability to supply multi-commodity controlled substances. These sentences send a strong message that this type of crime will not be tolerated.”

James Allen, Crown Advocate from the Crown Prosecution Service East Midlands Complex Casework Unit, said: “The convictions in Operation Telesse are the result of a successful prosecution of an organised crime group who were involved in the regional and nationwide supply of large quantities of heroin, cocaine, cannabis and what those involved believed was ecstasy.

“The case was prosecuted by the East Midlands Complex Casework Unit who worked closely with the East Midlands Special Operations Unit to bring those involved in the supply of illegal drugs to justice.

“The evidence gathered by the police allowed the Crown Prosecution Service to present a clear and compelling case to the Court.”