Drugs gang jailed for more than 50 years

FOUR Rotherham men are among members of a drugs gang sentenced to a total of more than 50 years in prison for drugs and firearms charges.

Thomas Carlin (37), from Eastwood, was jailed for eight years, Reza Kermani (38), of Whiston, was ordered to served four years, Gary Neil (51), also of Eastwood, two years and Michael Parkin (49), from Rotherham, 15 months jail term after a trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

Ringleader of the group which distributed drugs across Rotherham and Sheffield was Marcus Gad Binghi Thompson (35), who was locked up for 19 years.

Several others tended cannabis plants, delivered drugs and stored drugs and money.

The jailings followed an eight-month-long investigation by South Yorkshire Police’s serious and organised crime unit.

Thompson was under surveillance as he visited a number of addresses in Sheffield and Rotherham, where police later recovered drugs, a gun and ammunition.

Thompson rarely had possession of the drugs himself and also used sophisticated techniques in a bid to stay one step ahead of the police, the court heard.

Homes in Whiston and Rotherham were raided and drugs worth up to £97,000 on the street were seized.

Marcus Thompson, of Firth Park, Sheffield, was sentenced to ten years for conspiracy to supply heroin, five years for supplying cannabis and four years for conspiracy to possess a firearm.

Other defendants from Sheffield and Doncaster were given sentenced ranging from four months to nine and a half years in jail for various drug and firearms offences.

Carlin, of St John’s Road, Eastwood, was found guilty of conspiring to possess a firearm, and had pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to supply cannabis. He was sentenced eight years — four years for each.

Kermani (38), of School Yard in Whiston, Rotherham, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply cannabis and jailed for four years.

Neil, of Bramwell Street in Eastwood, Rotherham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cannabis and was jailed for two years, while Parkin, of Lord Street, Rotherham, was found not guilty of conspiracy to supply cannabis but was found guilty of producing cannabis and was given a 15-month prison sentence.