Group found guilty of supplying drugs

 A LARGE number of men and women from Liverpool and Plymouth are set to be sentenced, after they were found guilty of supplying heroin and cocaine to addicts in Plymouth.

- CARL EVE

The trial, which began in early November at Plymouth Crown Court following an investigation by police, Operation Hacker, saw several people appear charged with conspiring to supply Class A drugs.

The jury were told by prosecutor Jason Beal how the organised crime group consisted of people from the Liverpool area, working with people in Plymouth, to deliver heroin and cocaine to the city using couriers, who would drive back and forth collecting money and delivery the drugs.

Once the drugs arrived in Plymouth. they would then be distributed by a series of underlings who would also help the operation by depositing money in bank accounts linked to some of those involved.

Christian Edwards, aged 45, of Wantage Gardens, Stonehouse; Sonya McCormick, aged 43, of Westfield, Chaddlewood; Robert Sefton, aged 63, of Sandringham Road, Liverpool; Michelle Smith, aged 53, of Wadham Terrace, Ford; and David Trathen, aged 30, of Conqueror Drive, Manadon, faced a total of five counts.

On the first count, McCormick was charged with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and that between March 1, 2019, and March 31, 2020, she conspired with others namely Michael Sleman, aged 41, of Richland Road, Liverpool; Edwards, Smith, and 54-year-old Michael Barnshaw, of Cheriton Close, West Park. to supply cocaine. She pleaded not guilty but was found guilty by unanimous verdict of the jury last Monday.