Members of a criminal gang busted by police only minutes after they launched a plot to peddle crack cocaine in Carlisle have been jailed.
The city’s crown court heard today how a conspiracy to sell the class A drug was painstakingly pieced together by heavily-convicted Anthony Shaw.
Shaw, 35, was said by the prosecution to have hatched a plan to supply drugs from the moment he arrived in Carlisle during January this year.
He was housed in a homeless hostel following his release from custody.
He recruited a fellow hostel resident — 22-year-old convicted robber and burglar Sean Darbyshire — into the illegal activity.
Shaw also arranged both the purchase of a BMW which was fitted with cloned number plates and sourced crack cocaine in bulk from a Manchester-based busy upstream dealer.
A meeting of key players was held on January 21. A WhatsApp group was set up ahead of the gang going into business in Carlisle.
The court heard a burner phone operated by Shaw went live and sent messages to known drug users in the city on the morning of January 23.
But less than 30 minutes later, the conspirators were rumbled as a police detective in an unmarked car saw Shaw conduct a drug deal from the BMW’s passenger seat, on a back street off Carlisle’s London Road.
As police followed the BMW to the Harraby area, it was driven into a dead end, prompting the occupants — passengers Shaw, Darbyshire, Kian Bobmanuel, 25, and driver Reece Lomas, 19 — to flee. They were subsequently arrested.
Prosecutor Andrew Evans told the court: “The police secured the car, finding crude business cards — strips of paper with the burner phone number on them — ready to distribute to customers.”
Police also recovered scores of ready-for-sale crack cocaine wraps from a jacket inside a Carlisle hotel room used by gang members, along with cash.
Heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine and cannabis — plus bulking agents and weighing scales — were later found inside an air fryer when police executed a warrant and searched a Manchester flat.
Detectives also amassed damning phone evidence and CCTV footage as they brought the crooks to justice.
Shaw, of no fixed address; Bobmanuel, of Emmett Street East, Manchester; and Lomas, of Bury Old Road, Prestwich, admitted conspiracy to supply to crack cocaine. Darbyshire, from St Helens, was convicted of the same offence following a trial.
All four were sentenced today by Judge Michael Fanning, who concluded the conspiracy was Anthony Shaw’s baby.
Of the gang’s swift capture, Judge Fanning added: “That was a matter of good luck for police; back luck for you. This business was intended to grow and grow.”
Shaw was given a five-year jail term. Bobmanuel received a 32-month sentence; Lomas was handed a 27-month sentence; and Darbyshire a three-year term.
- A fifth man — 29-year-old Kyle Dooley, of Evanton Walk, Manchester — admits supplying a class A drug and also possession with intent to supply. He is due to be sentenced at the crown court next month.
