Gang jailed for part in £500,000 conspiracy to supply drugs in Southampton

Seven men who were part of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs between Merseyside and Hampshire with a potential street value of more than £4.5million have been jailed for a combined total of more than 50 years.

The large-scale conspiracy sought to bring wholesale amounts of Class A drugs – namely cocaine and heroin – via Liverpool and onto the streets of Southampton during a 3-month period between March and May 2021.

At a sentencing hearing at Southampton Crown Court on Thursday 27 April, the court heard how that contact between the gang members were made via messaging apps on a series of mobile devices - which were seized - with detailed analysis and surveillance evidence allowing investigating officers to draw together the whole conspiracy and identify all of those involved and the roles they each played.

During the operation, drugs totalling approximately £500,000 were recovered from a number of addresses in the Southampton area, along with a large quantity of benzocaine – a cutting agent for creating greater quantities of drugs. It was evident from a series of message exchanges between the gang that every five weeks, approximately 1.5kg of heroin and 1.2kg of cocaine, were being supplied to and by a number of the members in the Southampton area for street-level distribution.

In sentencing them, the Honourable Mr Justice Henry stated that the groups actions – especially their use of benzocaine if mixed with similar amounts of cocaine ‘could have resulted in supplying approximately 48kg of cocaine on the streets of Southampton in the future’. This would have given a street value of the drugs that could have been supplied of over £4.5 million.

Ringleader William Andrew Marsh, 36, of Rock Lane, Melling in Liverpool was found guilty via a jury of conspiring to supply Class A drugs.

He was jailed for 15 years for his part in the conspiracy and given a Serious Crime Prevention Order for five years following his release from prison.

Three other men were found guilty following a trial for the following offences:

• Andrew Bruce Dingwall, 31, of St. Francis Avenue, Southampton was found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. He was jailed for six years.
  
  
• Jack Stanley, 29, of Mandela Way, Southampton was found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. He was jailed for five years.
  
  
• Rudie Boy Stanley, 19, of Mandela Way, Southampton, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. He was sentenced to two years; suspended for two years.

At an earlier hearing at Southampton Crown Court Isaac Williams-McLean, 28, of Warlock Close, Southampton and Jimmy Stanley, 27, of Mandela Way, Southampton both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

They were both jailed for 10 years each.

Callum David Mark Gover, 23, of no fixed abode also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and was jailed for five years.

Gover had also pleaded guilty to being in possession of a Class A drugs worth between £1,600 - £2,000 in January 2023 whilst on court bail; he was sentenced to a further three years for this offence and is to be served consecutively.

Southampton Crown Court heard as part of a series of raids on properties in Southampton, police conducted searches of two flats in Wavell Road in May 2021.

They recovered 1.4kg of heroin and 1.4kg of cocaine - with a street value of £440,000. They also recovered 12kg of benzocaine alongside 2kg of a paracetamol and caffeine powder mixture.

£19,000 in cash and the phone that showed the contact between those in Southampton and William Marsh in Liverpool were also seized from a property in Wavell Road.

In June 2021 a further search was conducted at an address in Mandela Way where £17,000 of cocaine and heroin was seized, along with a further 12kg of benzocaine and over £40,000 cash. A cash counter was also recovered.

The ringleader of the operation, William Marsh was arrested in Merseyside in September 2021.

£19,000 cash was recovered, along with a phone that had been sending the messages to those in Southampton and arranging the supply of cocaine, heroin and the cutting agents.

Detective Constable Amy Speed of Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary’s Complex Investigation Support Unit, said: “We hope that the sentencing passed by the judge sends out a clear and stark message to those currently involved in drug supply, or those that are considering it, across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

“We are absolutely clear that we do not tolerate any form of drug-supply, or the associated criminal exploitation or drug-related harm, that comes with committing these offences. Organised criminal gangs, as was the case in this instance, or individuals who are going out intending to distribute quantities of drugs on the streets of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight will be found and will be stopped.

“We will continue to deal robustly with those that continue to cause harm to our communities; working with local and national partners in order to place those responsible in front of the criminal justice system and for justice to be served.

“In sentencing these men for the crimes they have committed, not only are they behind bars – some for a considerable amount of time – and off the streets so that they can no longer cause harm to our local communities; it also ensures that Hampshire and the Isle of Wight remains a safe place to live and work.”