Leighton Arches: all the sentences handed down to drugs gang

It means that 13 people have now been sentenced by the court - 12 having been jailed - following the raids in Welshpool last summer.

The investigation identified the ‘upstream’ supplier as being Gavin Warley, from Wolverhampton. Warley used couriers, Sahota, Bastable and Large, all from the Wolverhampton area, to run the drugs into Powys.

Stokes, Michael Power, John Paul Power and Gallagher were all shown to have been responsible for contacting Warley and arranging for drugs to be delivered to Leighton Arches.

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Kay was evidenced to travel to Leighton Arches on 80 separate occasions during the conspiracy period, and used a number of different couriers and vehicles to travel as he was disqualified from driving.  

Such couriers were Rigby, Seyffert, Husbands and Lloyd, who all made multiple visits.

Here are full details of all the defendants, and the sentences they received.

Patrick David Stokes, of Leighton Arches, received the longest sentence, being sent down for eight years and nine months for his part in the offending.

He was considered a key link to Gavin Warley, and was the most prominent link to Warley and was one of the key organisers from Leighton Arches.

He, along with Stokes, Michael Power, John Paul Power and Martin Gallagher had a separate customer base with whom to communicate by phone calls, SMS and social media.

Chaira Maddocks, defending Stokes, said the enterprise "lacked the sophistication" of an organised crim gang, and was a family enterprise working with an upstream supplier.

Gavin Warley was the "upstream" supplier of the drugs, and was jailed for eight years and three months for his role in the conspiracy, after pleading guilty to his role immediately.

Warley used couriers, Sahota, Bastable and Large, all of whom are based in the Wolverhampton area, to run the drugs into Powys.

Telecommunications show that during the conspiracy period, Stokes, Michael Power, John Paul Power and Gallagher had all been responsible for contacting Warley and arranging for drugs to be delivered to Leighton Arches.

Defending, Samantha Powis said: "I would suggest that he didn’t have ultimate possession or control over the drugs, but we do accept the managerial role and control of the couriers."

John Paul Power was jailed for seven years and six months for his role.

The court heard he had a leading role and was in constant contact with Warley throughout, sending out bolt texts with two phones and three vehicles linked to him.

His defence insisted he had no influence over those higher in the chain and providing the drugs.

Martin Gallagher was jailed for seven years and two months for Conspiracy to supply a Class A Drug – Cocaine, and given no separate penalty for supplying cannabis. 

The court heard he had a "significant but not leading" role in the operation, and was not present ont he day of the raid.

However, he had direct contact with Warley with 68 occasions of messages to customers.

Nicky Gatto, defending, said Gallagher's invovlement developed from a drink and drug addiction, which she says is borne out of 'past trauma'.

Sheldon Kay was considered one of the ringleaders of the so-called "Welshpool group", and was jailed for six years and six months.

Judge Niclas Parry told him: "You were the principal distributor of these Class A drugs and allowed them to permeate Mid Wales, a rural area."

Defending, John Hedgecoe said Kay had shown remorse and apologised for drawing his friends into the conspiracy which he acknowledged his role in.

Says Kay’s cocaine use was borne out of mental health problems developed through recovering from a car accident.

Kuldeep Sahota, from Wolverhampton, was jailed for five years and four months after admitting his role in supplying cocaine and heroin.

He had a significant role but he was the most prominent of the West Midlands couriers, making 30 of the 62 evidenced runs to Welshpool in two different vehicles.

He was seen to be associating with Warley on arranging other couriers and is aggravated by association with Warley over heroin, albeit on small scale.

Justin Jarmola, defending for Shaota, said he was "ashamed" by the offending.

Kane Bastable was the last of the group to be sentenced on Monday, May 9.

The court heard he was known to have transported drugs and cash between Welshpool and Wolverhampton on 24 occasions, and was found for 50g of cocaine in his car when stopped by the police.

Paul Spreadborough, representing Bastable, said his client was a young man led into the criminal lifestyle by his addiction to cocaine and described him as someone who “deserves the mercy of the court”.

Joshua Large was jailed for four years and 10 months.

Large was one of three couriers used to run the drugs into Powys.

Defending, Carl Templar-Vasey said Large understood the wider impact of the damage these offences have caused his wider family and he has shown genuine remorse.

Michael Power was sentenced to four years and six months for his role. 

According to the prosecution, he had a leading role in the cannabis conspiracy and had direct contact with Gavin Warley, using Snapchat to supply his own customer base.

He had unexplained cash deposits into his bank of around £10,000.

He was only 18 years of age at the time he became involved and had no previous offending, the court was told.

Daniel Seyffert, of Pretsiegne, was jailed for three years for his role.

He drove Kay to Leighton Arches to collect drugs, the court heard.

Judge Parry told him: "You knew exactly what you were doing, visiting the same place on 10 occasions with him."

Defending him Dafydd Roberts said he accepted he would be considered a courier but wanted the court to distinguish between a courier that takes a dealer or picks the drugs up themselves.

Lee Husbands od Knighton was jailed for three years after a jury convicted him of conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Judge Parry told him: "You will be sentenced in a lesser role but you knew what was happening and you had direct contact with the main players."

A pre-sentence report said he felt initimated into giving an older person - ie Kay - a lift.

Kristian Rigby of Knighton was jailed for two years for conspiracy to supply cocaine, as one of the group of drivers who took Kay to Leighton Arches.

He was described by Kay to Stokes in a text message as ‘my top boy’ and was both a customer and courier.

Judge Parry said: "By your own admission, you knew what you were doing and carried on doing so."

Defence barrister Miss Gordon said he pleaded guilty to a basis of plea: "I drove Kay in return for cocaine to feed my own addiction and I didn’t know the scale of the conspiracy."

Lucy Lloyd was the only member of the group not to receive an immediate jail sentence, and was instead given a suspended prison term of 18 months, suspended for two years, for participating in the activities of an organised crime group.

Judge Parry said of Mrs Lloyd, who is heaviliy pregnant with her sixth child: "You are lucky that I am going to suspend the sentence."