Drugs Gang Member Jailed For 20 Years

23 October 2012, 15:15 | Updated: 23 October 2012, 15:20

A member of a drugs gang who were involved in the supply and distribution of over £1.5million worth of heroin has today been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

26 year old Charles Gaskin from the Costalot travellers site in Bagworth, Leicestershire was sentenced at Norwich Crown Court today (Tuesday 23 October) after pleading not guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs at an earlier hearing. 

Ivor Lee, aged 55 and of Swanton Road travellers site, Norwich; Wanda Lee, aged 29 and also of Swanton Road travellers site and Paul Sayer, aged 41 and of Godric Place, Norwich, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs at an earlier hearing. 

A covert operation stretching over 10 months led to the arrest of the gang in a raid on the Swanton Road travellers site in Norwich back in August 2011.

Investigations had revealed that Ivor Lee and his daughter Wanda were working with Paul Sayer, who acted as their courier, and Gaskin, who was one of their suppliers based in Leicestershire, to bring multi kilo quantities of heroin into Norwich for onward distribution at street level. 

Ivor Lee was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment, Wanda Lee was sentenced to five-and-a-half years while Sayer was jailed for 10 years at Norwich Crown Court on 7 September.

Detective Inspector Gary Bloomfield of Norfolk Constabulary's Serious & Organised Crime Unit, welcomed the sentencing, saying: "As I said at the time of the previous sentencing, this was the largest single seizure of heroin Norfolk Constabulary has ever made. 

"Gaskin played a key role in this drugs operation and to see him behind bars for such a lengthy sentence is of great satisfaction. It is also another step towards reducing the amount of drugs readily available on our streets which in turn protects our communities from the scourge of Class A drugs.