Latest news with #classA
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Two Peterborough dealers jailed after being caught with drugs and cash
Two drug dealers have been jailed after they were caught with large quantities of class A and B drugs, drugs paraphernalia, and Estoman, 29, was caught dealing near his home on Bourges Boulevard in the Millfield area of Peterborough, by police officers on patrol, at about 11:20 BST on 7 quantities of drugs and cash were found in his flat, along with another man, Gulzaman Safizada, 25, from South Parade in West Town, Cambridgeshire Police was jailed for 30 months, while Safizada was jailed for 26 months after the pair admitted possession with intent to supply crack cocaine, cannabis, and heroin at Peterborough Crown Court. Det Con John Pentney said: "This was a great spot from our neighbourhood officers who saw the drug deal in progress while responding to concerns raised to them."Drug dealing and associated criminality can have a significant impact on the community, and I encourage anyone with information or concerns to report it to us." Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Telegraph
7 days ago
- Health
- Telegraph
Police let class A drug users walk free
Half of class A drug users are let off by police without punishment, official figures show. Some 48.1 per cent of people caught in possession of hard drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, were let off without any criminal sanction, Home Office data analysed by The Telegraph reveals. It represents a six-fold increase in drug users escaping prosecution since 2016, when the proportion was only 7.5 per cent. In some forces, more than 80 per cent caught with cocaine, heroin or other class A drugs escaped any criminal punishment. They were instead handed community resolutions, which do not result in a criminal record and only require an offender to accept 'responsibility' for their crime, or were let off 'in the public interest'. Only a third of class A drug possession offences resulted in a charge. The data reflects a shift by police to treat drug possession of any type as a health issue rather than criminal one and comes days after Sir Sadiq Khan, the Labour Mayor of London, called for possession of small amounts of natural cannabis to be decriminalised. But critics have warned police against 'decriminalising drugs via the back door by ignoring tens of thousands of offences'. At least a quarter of the 43 police forces in England and Wales have adopted 'diversion' schemes where users caught with small amounts of drugs like cannabis are 'diverted' to treatment or education programmes rather than prosecuted, particularly for first-time offences. Nearly three-quarters (72.1 per cent) of those caught in possession of cannabis were let off without any criminal sanctions. Thames Valley, West Midlands and Durham are among the dozen forces to have adopted diversion schemes, which could be rolled out nationally if successful. The Treasury and Cabinet Office have put £1.9 million into evaluating the approach in partnership with five universities, the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing, the standards body for forces in England and Wales. The College said the aim of the diversion scheme was to 'reduce re-offending and wider harms by approaching substance use as a health issue rather than a criminal justice issue'. The research will compare re-offending rates, hospital and treatment admissions with the aim of establishing 'whether and how drug diversion works, for whom, when and why'. 'Devastated by soft policy' But Chris Philp, the Tory shadow home secretary, warned the move amounted to decriminalisation by stealth. 'Parliament has rightly legislated that certain drugs are illegal because they cause serious harm to health, lead to antisocial behaviour and fuel acquisitive crime like theft, burglary and shoplifting as addicts steal to fund buying drugs,' he said. 'Police should not be decriminalising drugs via the back door by ignoring tens of thousands of offences. People who break the law should be prosecuted, and a magistrate or judge can decide what to do. 'Options a magistrate has available include fines, community service and addiction treatment requirements as well as prison. 'We have seen many US and Canadian cities devastated by soft drugs policies. These have allowed ghettos to develop where zombified addicts loiter unpunished and law abiding members of the public fear to go. We can't allow the UK to go the same way through weak policing. 'We need a zero tolerance approach to crime, including a zero tolerance approach to drug taking.' But the College of Policing defended approach and pointed to research, based on 16 different studies, that showed drug diversion had resulted in a 'small but significant' reduction in drug use, particularly among young people. The Telegraph analysis showed that Warwickshire had the lowest proportion of offenders caught with class A drugs who were let off, at just 9.2 per cent, while Dyfed Powys had the highest at 88.6 per cent.
BBC News
15-05-2025
- BBC News
Three people jailed for Weston-super-Mare county lines operation
Three people involved in a county lines drug operation operation have been Wyman, Brett Marshall, and Louise Sanders, all pleaded guilty to being involved in the supply of class A drugs at Bristol Crown was arrested on 24 October 2024 after police saw him get into a car and leave it a few seconds later, in a suspected drugs deal in Manilla Crescent in then searched Marshall's home and found Sanders and Wyman, the latter in possession of suspected drugs, more than £1,000 in cash and a knuckle duster. The Avon and Somerset Police investigation that followed proved the trio were involved in bringing drugs from the midlands into 19 and from Birmingham, was jailed for three 43, from Weston-super-Mare, was jailed for two years and Sanders, 45, also from Weston, for 16 months. PC Tom Highton, said: "Cocaine, heroin and other illegal substances cause an immense amount misery to people, not only drug users but the local communities too."The imprisonment of Wyman, Marshall and Sanders hopefully should act as a warning to anyone involved in the supply of illegal drugs that they risk a significant custodial sentence because we and our partners in the criminal justice system are determined to bring such offenders before the courts."
