Four men and a woman jailed after police discovered 15-kilos of cocaine, worth up to £600K

Ashley Kane, aged 29, of Fazeley, was sentenced to 12-years behind bars after pleading guilty to conspiring to supply cocaine.

Debbie Simmons, aged 54, of Fazeley, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and was given a three-years sentence.

Matthew O’Neil, aged 52, of Tamworth, was handed a six-year sentence after he pleaded guilty to the same offence as Simmonds.

Mark McHugh, aged 30, of Glascote, was sentenced to three years and nine months after he admitted possession with intent to supply cocaine and being concerned in the supply of cocaine.

Steven Powell, aged 38, of Rednall, Birmingham was handed an eight-and-a-half-year sentence after admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine and possession with intent to supply cocaine.

All five of them were sentenced together at Stafford Crown Court on Friday 28 April.

The court heard how officers spotted Powell delivering two carrier bags to a home on Deer Park Road, Fazeley, in October 2021.

Shortly after the bags were delivered, they spotted O’Neil collect one of the bags. He was stopped in a car nearby, leading to the discovery of six kilos of cocaine, worth up to £240,000, inside the bag he had collected from the home.

Shortly after, another car being driven by McHugh turned up at the same address.

He went inside and came out with Kane. McHugh tried to run away from officers but was caught, leading to the discovery of 125 grams of cocaine. Kane was found and arrested at his home, where more cocaine was found.

Police then searched Simmons’ home and found a further eight kilos of cocaine, worth up to £320,000, after she was seen taking packages from the address.

Valued together, the drugs were believed to be worth around £600,000.

Detective Chief Inspector Pete Cooke said: “Officers worked proactively to recover a staggering amount of class A drugs and take them out of circulation in Staffordshire”.

“I’m happy with the result of this case and would like to reiterate that officers are committed to targeting those who seek to exploit vulnerable members of our communities and profit from drug distribution.”