Great Yarmouth: Syed Abbas ran ‘Fat Boy’ county line

Syed Abbas ran the phone line that was used to coordinate supply and sale of class A drugs on behalf of a London gang in 2021 and 2022, Norwich Crown Court was told. 

The 37-year-old from Luton, whose youngest child is only a month old, pleaded guilty to two charges of being concerned in the supply of cocaine and 'street-grade' heroin.

Syed Abbas from Luton played a role in running a phone line supplying class A drugs (Image: Getty Images)

Prosecutor Danielle O'Donovan said when arrested he was found to be in possession of the so-called ‘Fat Boy’ phone that was used to coordinate supply of drugs from the capital to towns in Norfolk, particularly Great Yarmouth.  

The court heard that records showed he had also communicated with a known gang member further up the county line supply chain known as ‘Fat Boy’. 

Will Carter, mitigating, said Abbas had been lured into participating after running up a debt to gang members over the use of a vehicle.

“You know that somewhere lurking in the background there is someone running the show,” he said.

Abbas was found in control of the phone behind the 'Fat Boy' county line between London and Norfolk (Image: PA)

He said Abbas had been stabbed in the face during an attack while on remand in HMP Pentonville and had been moved to another jail for his own safety. 

Two men had also been convicted of blackmail following an attack at his parents home in Luton where gunshots were fired, the court was told.  

Mr Carter said: “We know that drugs bring violence and weapons. In Norfolk that tends to be knives but that is not the case elsewhere.”

Sentencing him to two years imprisonment suspended for two years, Recorder John Hardy told Abbas: “The mechanism by which class A drugs are supplied often involves extreme and savage violence.”