East Durham men ran drugs ring like a "well oiled machine", court hears

THREE men whose plot to flood the drugs market with more than £1m of cocaine and cannabis was likened to a "well oiled machine" have been jailed for a total of 23-and-a-half years.

Robert Hall was said to play a "substantial and leading role" in the conspiracy, while younger brother Thomas was a trusted lieutenant and David Thompson a close associate.

The drugs were shipped in from Europe and then destined to be distributed across the UK to areas such as the North-West, the East Midlands and East Yorkshire.

Prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court, Adrian Dent said the conspiracy, which stretched between February and September last year, was just a "snapshot" of the burly trio's substantial drug trafficking activities.

Officers from Durham Police - who were commended for their work by Recorder Michael Slater - observed Robert Hall in meetings around the country with drugs contacts and also used covert surveillance to record some of their conversations.

The court was told how the Halls regularly switched between so-called "clean" and "dirty" mobile phones to organise their activities, dumping handsets and using new ones when required.

Police seized 27 kilos of cannabis resin worth £116,715, which was contained in plastic bin bags, from a house in Carlton Terrace, Easington, which had Thompson's fingerprints on them, while another major haul of cocaine and cannabis was recovered from a house in Barnard Avenue in the County Durham village of Ludworth.

The street value of the drugs seized was valued at more than £1m.

Robert Hall, who ran a paving company in Peterlee, employing both his brother and Thompson, was watched outside a working men's club in Easington handing over more than £14,000 cash to another man subsequently jailed for drugs offences.

Robert Hall, 40, of George Avenue, 35-year-old Thomas Hall, of Paradise Lane, both Easington, and Thompson, 28, of Bolam Avenue, North Shields, all admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis.

Robert Hall - described as a hard working family man by his barrister - was jailed for 13 years, having had a previous drugs conviction dating back to 1995.

Thomas Hall, whose partner handed a letter into the judge pleading for leniency, was jailed for six years and Thompson received four and-a-half years.

Recorder Slater said: "I commend all the officers and civilians who worked on this case for their painstaking and impressive work."

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk 07/11/2013