A YOUTH and three adults have been jailed for a total of 11 years for drug dealing in Stroud.

At Gloucester Crown Court yesterday prosecutor Ian Fenny explained that on April 24, 2018, police were observing suspected Class A drug users in a supermarket car park in Stroud when they were seen to approach a parked Rover car.

Mr Fenny said: “The police then approached the vehicle and the three men in the back seat of the Rover ran away.

“Police gave chase and a youth and two men were soon caught and arrested.

“The woman stayed behind the wheel of the car.

“On the back seat, where the male defendants had been sitting, was a large number of wraps of heroin and crack cocaine - about £1,000 worth in street deals, along with a number of phones.”

In the dock were the 17-year-old youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, Caleb Goggins, 18, of Hatherley Road, Gloucester and Sallie-Ann Lane, 31, of Target Close, Stroud, who all pleaded guilty to dealing in class a drugs.

A fourth defendant, James Joyce, 18, Hucclecote Road, Gloucester, had denied the same offence but was convicted after a trial.

The 17-yr-old was also being sentenced for other drug dealing offences.

Guy Wyatt, for the youth said: “He has been exploited by others since he was very young, and that provides a context to his offending. The first offence was committed when he was still 16.

"There is some basis for optimism as he is doing well in the education unit at the detention centre.

“He is not a lost cause.”

Mr Wyatt said on Joyce’s behalf: “He became involved through his use of cannabis which he took up following the death of his father.”

Sarah Jenkins, defending Sallie-Ann Lane, said: “She didn’t have any understanding of the scale of the drug operation. Lane had a minor role and was not paid in cash but in drugs. Since being in custody she is now clean from drugs.”

Mr Wyatt for Goggins said: “He was 18 on the day of the offence. He did not realise that his drug habit had become problematic. He is now coming to terms with his addiction.”

The judge sentenced Goggins to two years and three months in a young offender’s institution.

Lane was given two years and three months in prison and her driving licence was endorsed with six points for no insurance.

Joyce to three years in a young offender’s institution.

The 17-year-old will be detained in a young offender’s institution for three and-a-half years.

All defendants were ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £170 and ordered for the forfeiture of all drugs and all relevant paraphernalia seized.