Prison for cocaine kingpin and the single mums he exploited

A DRUGS kingpin who preyed on single mums to help him grow cannabis and store cocaine, as well as conceal a gun, has been jailed for 25 years.

- By MARTIN NAYLOR

Nottingham Crown Court heard how Christopher Jones, who headed up an enterprise that made hundreds of thousands of pounds, also "brazenly" had an email address which spelt out "catch me if you can".

The 33-year-old, of Glamis Road, Sherwood, began relationships with different women at the same time, unbeknownst to the other females, who were prepared to let him keep drugs at their homes.

A search of co-defendant Sophie Wootton's Bulwell home unearthed a pistol, 168 rounds of ammunition, drugs and paraphernalia and a bullet-proof vest, as well as large sums of money and drugs.

After she was arrested, Jones moved his drugs to the Arnold home of mother-of-one Drew Williamson, where officers found 1kg of high-purity cocaine worth £100,000 and 13kg of cannabis in a bedroom.

And a search of the St Ann's home of a fourth defendant, Lee Blake, saw eight "slam guns" (an improvised firearm) recovered and taken off the streets of the city.

Sentencing a total of five defendants, Judge Michael Auty KC said: "I must sentence each of you for the parts you played in what I accept was Christopher Jones's massively successful drugs supply enterprise, which trafficked large quantities of drugs and generated vast profits. The most terrifying discovery of all was that of the firearms and of 168 live rounds of ammunition

"Drugs cause misery and suffering for countless lives. We saw footage of you (Jones) bragging while passing police officers who were oblivious to what you were doing. You were a serial philanderer, for want of a better word. Sophie Wootton was clearly besotted with you and you exploited that.