Brighton drugs gang jailed for more than 50 years

A drugs gang with a base in the heart of Brighton has been sentenced to more than 50 years in prison.

The gang ran drugs between Liverpool and Brighton and were under investigation for almost a year.

The final five members of the gang were sentenced at Hove Crown Court yesterday (Monday 1 December).

The two longest sentences were handed to two men from Liverpool – gang leader Kevin Tynan, 36, and his number two Kirk Blake, 25, both of Ermine Crescent, in Everton.

Tynan was jailed for 14 years and Blake for 13 years after they admitted supplying class A drugs heroin and crack cocaine. The length of their sentences reflected credit for early guilty pleas.

Tynan was also given a serious and organised crime prevention order to run for five years from the date of his release from prison.

The order is designed to control aspects of repeat offending. He will, for example, be restricted to certain types of phone, will have to register with police and notify police within 48 hours of hiring a car.

They operated from the Brighton flat where Blake’s girlfriend – 20-year-old Nikki Calladine – lived. Calladine, of Thornsdale, Albion Hill, was given a two-year prison sentence last month, suspended for two years, for conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine.

Jailed Kirk Blake and Kevin Tynan

A Brighton man was among the five people sentenced yesterday.

Murrell Kinch, 55, of Ryelands Drive, Moulsecoomb, had also pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine. He was sentenced to two years in prison suspended for two years.

Blake’s aunt Francis Hughes, 66, of Richard Kelly Drive, Liverpool, admitted money laundering and was given four months in prison suspended for a year.

Michael Hancock, 21 of White Rock Street, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to money laundering and perverting the course of justice and was given a one-year sentence suspended for a year.

The first gang members to be sentenced were jailed in April.

Gordon Lecheminant, 45, of Stonery Road, Portslade, was sent down for five years and four months for having heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply.

Nicole Boarer, 45, also of Stonery Road, Portslade, was jailed for four years and four months for the same offence.

Jailed Gordon Lecheminant and Nicole Boarer

Just over a fortnight ago ten more members of the gang were sentenced at Hove Crown Court for acting as runners for the gang and laundering money.

They included Tyler Boarer, who was the criminal connection between the main drug dealers in Liverpool to Brighton and the son of Nicole Boarer.

The 22-year-old from Downland Court in Portslade was jailed for eight years after pleading guilty to conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine.

He was jailed for seven and a half years for the drugs offences and an extra six months for biting a police officer who was trying to arrest him.

The runners in the drugs ring, John Dykes, Shawn Dempsey and William Hardaker, admitted conspiring to supplying crack cocaine and heroin.

Dempsey, 21, of Queen’s Mews, Liverpool, was given four and a half years.

Dykes, 20, of Goodwood Street, Liverpool, was given four years.

Hardaker, 22, of Knocklaid Road, Liverpool, was given two years suspended for two years.

Yasmine Wheeler, 33, of Hallett Road, Brighton, pleaded guilty to money laundering and was given four months suspended for four months and an eight-month suspended sentence for the production of cannabis.

Giuseppe Baker, 18, of Romsey Close, Hollingdean, pleaded guilty to supplying class A drugs and was given an 18-month suspended sentence.

Jailed John Dykes, Shawn Dempsey and Tyler Boarer

He was also given six months for common assault and causing alarm or distress after using racially aggravated language.

Three women were also sentenced for money laundering.

They were Lauren Healey, 28, of Ancaster Road, Liverpool, Stephanie Blair, 34, of Dawber Close, Liverpool, and Carly Williams, 19, of Ince Avenue, Liverpool.

Healey was given four months suspended for a year, Blair was also given four months also suspended for a year and Williams was given three months suspended for a year.

Judge David Rennie gave crown court commendations to Detective Sergeant Julian Deans, Detective Constable Mark Pinder and Andy Boyd, a drugs development support officer, for their work on the case.

Detective Sergeant Julian Deans, from Sussex Police, who ran the police operation into cracking the drugs ring between Liverpool and Brighton, said: “Tynan was the ringleader of this gang and was the key player in bringing thousands of pounds worth of class A drugs into our city.

“This operation, named Operation Woburn, was led by the Organised Crime Investigation Team at Brighton and ran for nearly a year and these sentences signal the end of this specific operation.

“It focused entirely on this one man and his dealing network. He and all his criminal connections have all pleaded guilty to their offences as they knew the strength of the evidence against them.

Judge David Rennie

“The significant sentences send a clear and compelling message to anyone who wishes to attempt to sell drugs in this city.

“I am very pleased with the result and want thank the Crown Prosecution Service who have been unswerving in their support.

“We’ve also worked hard with our colleagues in Merseyside Police to track down this group and arrest them.

“They have bought drugs into this city and we will not allow that to happen.

“The length of these sentences – 14 years for Tynan and 13 years for Blake – goes to show how seriously this type of crime is treated.

“I have the task of investigating drugs-related deaths. I am the one having to tell mothers and fathers that their son or daughter is dead.

“This merely doubles my resolve to hunt down and arrest every dealer that we can find.

“If you are dealing drugs in this city, then you need to know that we will catch you and will deal with you robustly.

“Lastly I want to recognise the professionalism of my team and dedication to bringing offenders like these to justice.

“The team is as committed and passionate about police work as I am.

“Complex cases like this do not just appear before the court. It takes dedication and commitment and this team has it in abundance.

“We will remain unstinting in our pursuit of drug dealers in this city.”

• Tyler Boarer was jailed for three years in August 2010 for dealing heroin. He was 18 at the time and living in Downash Close, Whitehawk.

Alongside him in the dock at Hove Crown Court, Tynan and Blake were both jailed for 44 months each for the same offence.