Three men have been jailed for drug dealing to homeless people in Brighton and a fourth was given a suspended prison sentence.
Reggie Gwyer, 22, of Harleston Road, Portsmouth, and Daniel Hajiabol Ghasemi, 37, of North Road, Brighton, were spotted selling drugs in Manchester Street, Brighton, on Wednesday 7 September last year.
Sussex Police said: “Ghasemi was arrested and found with a large amount of cash and a white Nokia phone. It received a call from a county line known as the Boss line while officers were there.
“Gwyer was arrested and found with class A drugs and cash which he admitted was from the day’s drug dealing. He also had multiple mobile phones.
“Their pair’s hotel room was searched and two more men – Shaun Harper, 31, of Braintree Road, in Portsmouth, and Steven Tunbridge, 29, of Estella Road, in Portsmouth – were found inside.
“Harper tried to escape through a window and Tunbridge was hiding in the bathroom but both were arrested.
“Inside the hotel room were more than 500 wraps of class A drugs, cash and multiple mobile phones – one of which was found in the toilet in an apparent attempt to destroy it.
“This phone was confirmed to be linked to the Boss county line.
“All four were arrested and subsequently charged with being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin.”
At Brighton Crown Court on Friday 15 September, Judge Amanda Kelly jailed Daniel Ghasemi for two years.
At Lewes Crown Court on Friday 23 June, she jailed Harper for five years, Tunbridge for three years and three months and gave Gwyer an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
Detective Constable Marcus Roberts said: “Yet again we have shown with these convictions that Sussex Police is committed to tackling drug-related crime and protecting the community.
“In this instance we were able to take decisive action on community intelligence, gather evidence and bring four people into custody.
“We were also able to take a significant amount of harmful substances off the streets and shut down a county drugs line spreading harm in our communities.
“This result shows how important it is that the public reports any concerns to the police. Please report to Sussex Police online or via 101. Always dial 999 in an emergency.”
At the time of the arrests, Detective Sergeant Chris Lane, from the Brighton and Hove Community Investigations Team. said: “These four charges are a fine example of community intelligence leading to proactive police intervention, taking a large quantity of harmful substances off the streets and several individuals into custody.
“The public are our eyes and ears and it is essential that residents report any concerns to us so we can investigate and respond.”
The sentences are much too short. Well done to the police for taking them for a short time off the streets.