Key figures in Great Yarmouth county lines cocaine gang jailed

Chase Staff, 33, and Kyle Thomas, 27, were both senior figures in the trafficking of cocaine in Great Yarmouth.

Norwich Crown Court heard Staff was responsible for running the operation and providing "the muscle" while Thomas had a "significant role" as "salesman".

The gang used two phone lines to supply 1,384.2g and 1,575.95g of class A drugs onto the streets of the seaside town between January 2022 and May this year.
An aerial view of Great Yarmouth (Image: Newsquest)The court heard two youths were part of the group, with one of the 17-year-olds - who cannot be identified for legal reasons - caught after police stopped a car that contained £18k in cash.

Norwich Crown Court (Image: Peter Walsh, Newsquest)The other youth was found with a phone containing hundreds of drug dealing messages.

On Wednesday, Staff, from Ormesby Lane, Filby, was jailed for five years after previously admitting being concerned in the supply of cocaine.

Chase Staff (Image: Norfolk Constabulary)Thomas, from Princes Road, Yarmouth, received a sentence of three years and four months after admitting the same offence.

Kyle Thomas (Image: Norfolk Constabulary)Richard White, prosecuting, said police first started to unravel the network after two youths were arrested in connection with cocaine dealing in the town in February 2022.

The arrests sparked further investigations to identify others who might be involved in the operation and a few days later, one of the gang was spotted acting suspiciously by officers.

He ran away, but dropped a mobile phone which gave detectives further leads in the case.

Mr White said they were able to "interrogate" the phone and uncover further drugs messages.

In July last year, hundreds more messages were found after a phone belonging to a 17-year-old, who cannot be named but who was involved in the operation, was discovered following an arrest.

The following month, two gang members were stopped in a car in Yarmouth with £18k of cash seized. Mr White said the amount "demonstrated the scale" of the operation.

Further arrests followed, including that of Staff, on May 30 this year. When he was detained, officers also seized mobile phones and cash, including £1,260, in a pram.

Other gang members sentenced on Wednesday - after admitting being concerned in the supply of drugs - were Sean Murray, 29, from Elder Green, Gorleston, and Robin Beales, 27, from Peter Close, Caister-on-Sea.

They both received two year sentences, suspended for two years.

In addition, one 17-year-old received a six-month youth referral order while the other youth, who also admitted possession with intent to supply cannabis, was given a 12-month youth referral order.

Sentencing the gang Recorder John Hardy said: "All of you know the effect that this drug can have on other people.

"Some of you have yourselves experienced addiction to this drug and the misery it can cause but not withstanding that you, at various levels, co-operated in this enterprise."

Another man accused of being in the gang failed to attend court.

A warrant has been issued for his arrest.

'MUSCLE' AND 'SALESMAN' PLAYED IMPORTANT ROLES

Michael Clare, in mitigation for Staff, accepted his client was the "muscle" in the operation but insisted he has "not made a significant financial advantage and was paying off a debt".

He said his "muscle was important" but to say he "ran the operation was incorrect".

Stephen Spence, mitigating for, Thomas, said his client has been "very frank" in stating he knew what he was doing was wrong but the "problem is not knowing when to say no".

He said Thomas was a "salesman" who was dealing drugs and collecting money in the operation not to feed and addiction but as he was "trying to improve himself financially".

John Morgans, for Beales, said the defendant had no previous convictions, became addicted to class A drugs in his adult life and was "solely involved in the supply of drugs to which he was addicted to maintain his own supply".

He said Beales was "criminally inexperienced" and an "amateur" who "seemed to be using more drugs than he was supplying".

Mr Morgans, who also represented a 17-year-old who cannot be identified, said he was here "because he'd got himself involved in this enterprise" but "has got no previous convictions".

Ian James, for a 17-year-old youth who cannot be identified, said the teen is now 17 but was just 16 at the time of the offending.

Danielle O'Donovan, for Murray, said his involvement was "short-lived" with him acting as a "runner and no more than that".