Drug gang damned by their own pictures
FOUND with cannabis, digital scales and bags, a gang of drug dealers didn’t stand much chance of proving their innocence.
But after police discovered these photos on one of their mobile phones, they stood no chance at all.
In one picture, two of the gang are seen examining dried cannabis leaf spread all over the floor.
But the most striking image shows gang member Russell Turner, 18, with wads of notes stuffed into his pockets and waistband and yet more cash in his hands.
Turner, Eugene May-Dyer, Ian Cunningham and Grant Barnhurst, all from Birmingham, were arrested during a series of raids in the Kings Norton area of the city in February last year.
Officers seized almost £1,000 of cannabis, dealer bags and digital scales, plus mobile phones containing a catalogue of text conversations between the group discussing drugs.
Examination of the phones revealed the incriminating photos. Turner is seen with 24-year-old May-Dyer examining the dried cannabis leaf. All four admitted conspiracy to supply Class B drugs at Birmingham Crown Court.
Yesterday, Turner was jailed for 13 months – including an additional month for breaching a previous suspended sentence – and May-Dyer for 12 months.
Accomplices Cunningham, 24, and Barnhurst, 21, were both handed nine-month sentences.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Bannister, head of West Midlands Police’s Gang Taskforce, said: ‘We managed to intercept them before their criminality could escalate and potentially cause more damage in the community.’