£330k Staffordshire drug plot gang jailed

Four drug traffickers who plotted to bring more than £330,000 worth of cocaine into Staffordshire have been given jail terms totalling more than 30 years.

Brothers Michael and Andrew Pettit from Stafford, Kevin Marsden from Stone and Paul Cooper, also from Stafford were netted after a covert police surveillance operation.

For almost a month, officers kept tabs on the brothers and their friend Marsden, watching their homes, following their cars, observing meetings and compiling records of their phone conversations.

The trap was closed when they tailed Marsden's BMW to Liverpool and stopped him on the way back to Staffordshire in May 2013.

In the boot of the BMW was a bag containing cocaine with a street value of £272,000. A further £60,000 worth of the drug was later found in his locker at a meat wholesalers in Stoke where he was working.

In July, a jury at Stafford Crown Ccourt found the two brothers and Marsden guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine after a trial lasting more than two weeks.

Sentencing them at court yesterday, Judge Michael Chambers QC said: "This was a professional, commercial operation cynically carried out for personal gain, to supply large quantities of cocaine sourced in Liverpool and conveyed down to Stafford for distribution in the Stafford area."

The judge branded Andrew Pettit the 'principal organiser and director' of the plot and jailed him for 12 years.

Marsden was sent to prison for 10 years while Michael Pettit, a 'close lieutenant' of his brother, received six years. Cooper was jailed for three years.

Marsden, aged 46, of Poplar Close; Andrew Pettit, 45, of Izaak Walton Street and Michael Pettit, aged 44, of Weston Road, all denied conspiracy to supply cocaine but Cooper, aged 30, of Greyfriars Court, admitted the charge on the basis of conspiring with Marsden to supply smaller quantities of cocaine.

The court heard that Andrew Pettit and Marsden had previously been jailed in 2010 for drug trafficking.

In July, the jury heard the police surveillance started in April 2013 when Cooper was arrested. Officers were tailing Marsden's BMW, which stopped in Greyfriars and Cooper got out.

He was arrested as he walked away, dropping a package and a mobile phone on a doorstep. The package contained £7,360 worth of cocaine and Marsden's fingerprints were on it.

Cutting agent, electronic scales and plastic bags were later found at Cooper's home.

Although Cooper was arrested, Marsden was left free so officers could observe his activities during May.

On May 8 his BMW was parked outside Andrew Pettit's home and on May 14 Marsden was seen receiving a roll of money from a man in Tenterbanks, Stafford.

On May 21 and 22 , Andrew Pettit made phone calls to numbers in Liverpool - setting up the deal for the collection of the cocaine, according to the prosecution.

The following evening, Marsden was seen leaving Andrew Pettit's address with a carrier bag. His BMW was followed up to Liverpool to meet up with a black Fiesta.

Just after 10pm, the BMW with Marsden behind the wheel, was stopped by police heading south to Stafford on the M6.

In the boot was a bag containing one kilo of high-purity cocaine with an estimated street value of £272,000 - 'a substantial amount which was about to hit the streets of Stafford,' said prosecutor Mr Kevin Grego.

With Marsden under arrest, there followed 'panic' telephone calls between the brothers - they did not yet know that a huge consignment of cocaine had fallen in to the hands of the police.

As well as searching Marsden's home, where tubs of cutting agent were found, police also searched his workplace at the time, Wayne Walker Meat Products in Longton, Stoke on Trent.

In his locker were found two bags of cocaine, one with a street value of £60,350, the other in excess of £2,000.

Both brothers denied any involvement in the cocaine plot, and Marsden claimed he had been forced into selling the drug by a gang from London who had threatened to kill his family. However, Judge Chambers ruled that story had been made up to protect the Pettits.

Mr Ian McMeekin, for Andrew Pettit, said it had been 'a short-lived conspiracy'. Mr Peter McCartney, for Marsden, said his client had been candid with the jury, the only issue was regarding the role of the Pettits.

Mr Sebastian Gardiner, for Michael Pettit, said his client's marriage ended in 2011, his soil supply business collapsed and he was facing financial difficulties.

Mr Harpreet Sandhu, for Cooper, who was also in breach of a 2012 suspended sentence for drugs offences, said his client's rehabilitation had already begun.