Oswestry, Shropshire, courier jailed for county lines role

Martin Wilson, 36, and from Liverpool, whose barrister told the court that he had turned his life around, was jailed for 15 months for making six trips between Liverpool and Oswestry between December 2018 and July 2019.

He would bring back or deliver packages of drugs or money in order to ‘make a quick buck’ as part of a county lines operation called ‘Boris’ from Liverpool into Oswestry.

A second man, 21-year-old Joshua Davies, of Maple Avenue, Oswestry, was spared jail by Judge Peter Barrie because of his ‘street level’ involvement in ‘Boris’ and because he had been diagnosed with autism.

Prosecutor Sara Wyeth told the court that Davies was utilised by the gang – based in either Norris Green or Knowsley in Liverpool – to pay off a drug debt.

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Ms Wyeth told the court that the gang was ‘extremely well-organised and very violent’ and that it used a number of exploited children who did not face charges.

However, because Davies, 17 at time of offending, continued to be used by the gang after his first arrest in February 2019, in Beatrice Street, Oswestry, it was deemed in the public interest to charge him.

Wilson pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity in November 2021 while Davies entered his plea before a jury was sworn into his trial in August this year.

Both men admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine.

Davies was involved in distributing the drugs to users in Oswestry between January and July 2019, and his role would be to exchange them after a bulk message advert was sent out by ‘Boris’s’ organisers.

On four occasions, Davies was considered to be a main dealer on that, according to phone records, and he was again arrested in Hazel Grove, Oswestry, in March 2019.

Wilson’s defence told Judge Barrie that he was now a full-time groundworker who had ceased using recreational drugs and had a family.

The judge was also told that by making ‘only six trips’, his role was a minor one.

However, Judge Barrie disagreed, stating: “You are 36 and you made what was a simple financial decision to take the job of driving between Oswestry and Liverpool to courier drugs and cash.

“And you were paid for doing so.”

He added: “I cannot regard your personal circumstances as being sufficient to move away from any significant involvement in drug dealing on this level to not be met with a custodial sentence.”

Sentencing Davies to 21 months, suspended for two years, he added: “You admit you were moving the drugs around the town to write off a debt.

“You did this over a number of months so at the street end, you were more heavily involved.

“I recognise you were 17 at the time and that the people organising this were very violent.

“I take into account the way young people are exploited by these gangs and your personal circumstances of being diagnosed with autism.”

He was also given 80 hours unpaid work and 10 rehabilitation activity days.