County lines: Final member of heroin and cocaine drugs gang jailed

The final member of a drugs gang which trafficked heroin and cocaine which had a street value of £1.1m into Powys has been jailed for four years.

Ryan Jolly, 38, of Canonford Avenue, Eardisley, Hertfordshire, had already pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply class A drugs.

He was involved in a crime group which had links to Merseyside, and operated in Llandrindod Wells and Newtown.

Swansea Crown Court heard Jolly had been a "trusted courier" for the gang.

The other 18 members were jailed for between three years and two months and 12 years at a sentencing hearing in Swansea before Christmas.

The court had heard they had used cars and trains to transport drugs from Merseyside over a two-year period, sometimes carrying drugs internally, and trafficking vulnerable youths to oversee drug deals.

Jolly had made four separate trips from Powys to Liverpool in his own car.

In mitigation, the court heard he had a long addiction to class A drugs, and was finally overcoming his addiction.

Judge Geraint Walters told him his role was "somewhat limited" and he was motivated by money.

He warned others engaging in "this evil activity" to "watch out, as the next knock might be on their door".

"The public are fed up with this activity blighting their communities, and rightly so, and the courts will do their bit in supporting the police by passing sentences which ought to deter," he said.