Man sent to get drug addicts' numbers jailed

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-48403162

Version 0 of 1.

A man sent to get drug addicts' phone numbers after a gang member swallowed a contacts list has been jailed.

Jack Henstock was in debt to "county lines" drug dealers and was ordered by them to travel from his home in the Rochdale area to Carlisle in January.

Carlisle Crown Court heard the 28-year-old was spotted approaching known drug users and arrested.

He was jailed for three years after previously admitting being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine.

The court was told Henstock, of Grimshaw Lane, Middleton, submitted a written basis for his guilty pleas.

This stated: "His task was to repopulate the phone contacts for the criminal organisation's customer base of addicts.

"The organisation had lost its contacts due to someone swallowing a SIM card to avoid detection by police."

Judge Peter Davies said Henstock's illegal activity would have resulted in more addicts indebted to "these cruel Manchester drug dealers".

He added: "If it wasn't for you, people like them wouldn't be able to operate, and they wouldn't be able to make the significant profits they do make.

"You were performing a significant and essential function in my view."