105 years in jail for £1m ‘Geordies’ crime gang

JAILED Brooks and White

A GANG from the North of England who terrorised seaside communities have been jailed for 105 years.

The 13 criminals – known as “The Geordies” – brought misery to two towns by flooding the streets with cocaine and cannabis, a court heard.

They used violence and coercion to maintain a criminal empire valued at £1million within Dawlish and Teignmouth in Devon.

Five of the gang were jailed for multiple rapes, two for conspiracy to supplying heroin, and several were convicted on sexual offences.

FRIGHTENED

Judge Michael Longman, who sentenced them at Bristol crown court, handed a 25-year term to leader James Lee Brooks, 41, of Dawlish, Devon. He had bragged he was the “King of Dawlish”.

His half-brother John White, 35, of Chudleigh, Devon, was jailed for nine years, and Ross Morton, 32, of Sunderland, was sentenced to 22 years.

Nazrul Islam, 36, of Teignmouth, Devon, was jailed for 11 years.

The offences occurred between 2018 and 2019.

Det Con James Brice said: “By instilling fear in a small community over a number of years, people were frightened to come forward.”

ONE in seven parents never read their children a bedtime story, data shows.

Around 345,000 school kids aged between seven and nine – 14% – are reading for less than 15 minutes a week, compared with 37% who read for more than an hour a week.

Gemma Malley, of the charity BookTrust, which quizzed 2,000 parents, warned: “There’s a danger that families are sleepwalking into literary poverty.

“Reading is linked to academic development and building confidence.”