Prolific Warrington drug gang leader Thomas Rayment jailed

Thomas Rayment, 30, of Brookvale Close in Burtonwood, was handed the sentence at Liverpool Crown Court today, Wednesday, for his involvement in the county lines drugs offences which brought class A drugs from Manchester into Warrington over a five-month period.

Ryan Baker, 32 and Matthew Parrack, 40, both of Bridgewater Avenue in Latchford, were sentenced in December for their part in the operation.

Also sentenced last year were Sheldon Simpson, 28, of The Meadows in Rochdale, Nadia Khatub-Shahidi, 32, of Durley Avenue in Manchester, and Callum Davies, 20, of Kersal Road in Prestwich.

They received a combined total of more than 16 years.

Prosecutor Alaric Bassano explained: "Between October 30, 2019 and March 27, 2020, the defendants were involved in the organised and commercial sale of heroin and crack cocaine to drug users in Warrington.

"The individual quantities being sold were small, £10 street deals weighing a fraction of a gram, but the activity was prolific, with thousands of such transactions being conducted on 141 days during this period – invariably at all hours throughout each of those days.

Ryan Baker, Sheldon Simpson, Nadia Khatib-Shahidi and Callum Davies

"The total weight of class A drugs trafficked in this way over the entire period was not less than 1kg, producing retail receipts of £100,000."

The court heard how the operation involved a drug dealing telephone number, used to advertise drug sales by sending texts to multiple drug users in Warrington.

These messages were then passed on to the dealer on the ground.

Mr Bassano added: "Putting distance between the phone and the drug dealer would give some protection to the drug dealer and was a feature of the organisation and care taken by the conspirators in this case."

Over the period of the conspiracy there were three different telephone numbers, each replacing the other, to further try and evade police detection.

Police estimate the total sales revenues earned by the conspiracy to be between £141,000 and £242,000.

Bassano told the court how Rayment managed the operation and supervised the activities of the others.

Thomas Rayment was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court (Image: Newsquest)

When Rayment was arrested in March, there was an encro phone in his car.

During police interview, Rayment denied any wrongdoing and advanced his dog breeding business as a response to the allegations.

In defence of his client, Alex Leach said: “The defendant has shown genuine remorse for his actions, but he is well aware that personal mitigation in a sentencing of this scale will have only a modest impact.”

Before passing her sentence, judge Rachel Smith said: “For the whole of the period, you took a management role supervising others below you. You were motivated by financial gain.

“The offences are aggravated by your 33 previous convictions, including offences of possession with intent to supply class A drugs and the production of cannabis.”

As well as Rayment’s sentence, a previous hearing last year saw Simpson sentenced to six years, Baker to four years and four months, and because of Parrack’s lesser role, his 20-month sentence was suspended for 18 months.

Khatub-Shahidi received four-and-a-half years, while Davies was sentenced to two years and three months.