A CARLISLE grandfather who became involved in a “county lines” class A drugs supply plot has been jailed for seven years.
Peter Kenney was arrested by police after a 16-year-old London boy had been detained soon after leaving Kenney’s Eldon Drive flat on May 22. The teenager had almost £1,500 cash in his rucksack which, Carlisle Crown Court heard, represented the proceeds of around 90 heroin and crack cocaine deals.
It emerged both Kenney, 48, and the boy had been involved in a county lines drugs conspiracy. This was controlled by London gangsters who despatched the teenager to Cumbria from his Croydon home, and also set up a criminal phone line which sent “text bombs” to addicts advertising the sale illegal substances.
Kenney – a father to three children and grandfather of six – had initially agreed to house the boy in return for heroin. But Kenney, a man with almost 180 offences on his criminal record, then became “more enthusiastically involved”, a police probe showing his regular contact with the gangsters’ phone line.
The boy admitted conspiracy to supply class A drugs and possessing criminal property, while Kenney was convicted of the conspiracy charge following a jury trial.
Judge Peter Davies, noting two previous class A drugs supply convictions on Kenney’s criminal record of almost 180 offences, jailed him for seven years. “This was a significant operation,” Judge Davies said of the most recent offending.
*The teenager’s case was adjourned. He will be sentenced at the crown court on November 26.
