Jail for two men involved in 'Danny' drugs line in Oxford

Marcel Williams, 36, was asked by police after his arrest last November whether he was a drug dealer.

Candidly, the long-time addict told the officers that he was and detailed the drugs to which he was addicted – before his solicitor reminded him of her advice and he answered the rest of the officers’ questions ‘no comment’.

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Sentencing the Greater Leys man at Oxford Crown Court on Tuesday (March 14), Recorder John Bate-Williams praised a letter he had received from Williams as ‘very wise’.

In it, Williams explained how drug addiction had affected his physical and mental health leading to what he ‘thought at one stage was a journey towards his premature death’, the judge summarised.

He added: “You actually speak in your letter of your relief when you were arrested.” Williams had shown remorse and understanding for the impact drugs like the ones he was involved in dealing had on addicts and the community more widely, the judge said.

The court heard that Williams had got involved in selling drugs after building up a debt to his dealer. He began selling heroin and cocaine in order to pay off his debt but also to receive discounted drugs.

In a basis of plea, he said the thought the drugs line – nicknamed ‘Danny’ – was operated by a local man and was not a ‘County Line’, the term given to drugs operations in smaller towns and cities run by gangs from bigger cities like London and Birmingham.

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Police officers had raided his home in Mole Place, Greater Leys, in November, where they found a Nokia phone handset containing the sim card associated with the ‘Danny’ line. They also found cash and a knife.

The phone had been used to send out bulk advertising messages offering class A drugs for sale. There were also exchanges with customers interested in buying the line’s product.

A co-defendant, Keiron Hollinrake, 48, submitted a basis of plea in which he admitted being a ‘runner’ for the line. He worked in exchange for drugs, to which he had long been addicted, and credit for his mobile phone.

Williams, of Mole Place, and Hollinrake, of Foresters Tower, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine between August and November last year. Williams also admitted personal possession of crack cocaine.

Recorder Bate-Williams sentenced Williams to 34 months’ imprisonment. Hollinrake received 27 months.

He told both men: “You have both been class A drug addicts and both expressed the hope that you may move forward, tackling and overcoming your addiction to drugs. I very much hope you succeed in that goal.”

The judge added that he hoped accommodation found for Hollinrake by the council ‘can be held available until your release’. The property was particularly important to the defendant, who the court heard had long been homeless.

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