Gang members are jailed over county-wide drugs operation

TEN gang members have been jailed for their part in a huge drugs operation.

- BY GEORGE PALMER-SOADY

Clockwise from top left: Andrew Fitzgerald, Sean Richardson, Aaron Miller, Tyrone Shand, Corey Graham, Chadwyck Walton, Andrew Cox, Craig Boston.

Between January 2023 and July 2024, the group transported hundreds of thousands of pounds of class A drugs around the county between Kirkby, Sutton and Eastwood - and even to Skegness in Lincolnshire.

Nottingham Crown Court heard the gang would store large batches of the drugs - along with weapons including knives and a crossbow with arrows - in “stash houses” in Bulwell and Bestwood.

However, the large-scale operation came to an end when the gang's leader, Andrew Fitzgerald, was caught by police and arrested while attempting to flee the county.

Fitzgerald was caught driving along the A617 near Newark with his righthand man, Sean Richardson, in July 2024.

After the pair's arrest, another member of the 15-strong group attempted to dispose of two phones used to deal drugs by dropping them into tins of paint. But they were found by officers shortly after.

At Nottingham Crown Court on Wednesday, all members of the group were sentenced, with 10 jailed and five others given suspended sentences.

The court heard Corey Graham, Andrew Cox and Nathan Sharp controlled the cross-county operation through five mobile phones on behalf of Fitzgerald.

The scale of the gang’s trade was revealed when officers found an estimated £125,000 of heroin, cocaine, and crack cocaine - along with more than £40,000 in cash and high-value jewellery items.

A mobile phone belonging to one of the group's suppliers was also taken by police, with officers finding voice notes proving the gang was sourcing large amounts of cocaine and heroin at “stash houses”.

Police searched properties and took mobile phones containing damning evidence.