JAILED: Man went on the run over drugs offences
A Stafford man who went on the run after failing to attend court has been jailed for more than five years.
John Osborne, 47, was sentenced to a total of five years and seven months for two offences of possession with intent to supply heroin.
The court heard that Osborne was in a friend’s silver Ford Ka when it was stopped, in Wolverhampton Road, in Stafford, on August 22, 2017.
As officers approached the car they spotted drugs paraphernalia and saw Osborne put a can of super strength lager on the floor inside.
A package suspected to be heroin was found during a search and later testing confirmed it was 3.5 grams of heroin.
The officers then carried out a search at Osborne’s then home address, in Brook Glen Road, Rising Brook, and seized a number of mobile phones.
Months later on December 14, 2017 officers attended the same address for an unrelated matter and where they found a quantity of heroin on a table being arranged into individual deals and Osborne was present.
The defendant failed to attend a subsequent court hearing and was arrested by officers from Stafford Police Station after intelligence work led them to an address, in Heath Town, Wolverhampton, on December 14, 2019.
Sergeant Tom Fotherby, of Stafford Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “This case is proof that offenders can go on the run or fail to attend court but we will catch up with them.
“It took two years for John Osborne to be sentenced, but persistence means he is now serving time and demonstrates we will continue to target those who deal drugs and spread misery in our communities.”
Osborne, of Eastgate Street, Stafford, pleaded guilty to the drugs offences at an earlier hearing and was jailed on January 10 at Stafford Crown Court.
He was also jailed for three months for the breach which will run concurrently.
