Newport drugs gang jailed for nearly 14 years

They were condemned by a judge who told them they had given scant regard for the lives they were ruining.

The four defendants and their sentences were:

• Jordan Ingram, 26, of no fixed abode, Newport jailed for 45 months
• Kieran Olsen, 22, of Jane Austen Close, Newport jailed for 45 months
• Benjamin Hughes, 25, of Ben Jonson Way, Newport jailed for 40 months
• Jamie Parsons, 35, of Hendre Farm Drive, Newport jailed for three years

Ingram, Olsen and Hughes were selling heroin as well as cocaine.

Thomas Stanway, prosecuting, told Cardiff Crown Court how Ingram and Olsen had been running a “busy” drugs line supplying crack cocaine and heroin.

Jordan Ingram

The pair were sending text bombs to more than 100 users on some days.

Police found 119g of 76 per cent purity cocaine with a potential street value of more than £11,000 when they raided Hughes’ home.

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They also seized heroin worth £800.

Former soldier Parsons was caught with £13,580 in counterfeit £20 notes.

Ingram and Olsen both pleaded guilty to being concerned in supply of heroin and being concerned in supply of cocaine.

Kieran Olsen

Hughes admitted possession of heroin with intent to supply, possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply and possession of cocaine with intent to supply.

He was jailed for 30 months in 2018 for possession of heroin with intent to supply.

Parsons pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply cocaine and possession of criminal property.

Benjamin Hughes

He also admitted possession of pregabalin with intent to supply.

The court heard that Parsons was also addicted to the class C drug which is prescribed to treat epilepsy, anxiety and nerve pain.

The offences were variously committed between May 21, 2021 and March 24 this year.

Ben Waters representing Ingram said his client had been “devastated” following the death of his mother from multiple sclerosis when he was 12 and was homeless at 15.

Jamie Parsons

William Bebb mitigating for Olsen told the court: “The defendant has shown remorse and regret.

“He will miss the birth of his son in September.”

Harry Baker representing Hughes asked for his guilty pleas to be taken into account and added that this defendant’s partner is also pregnant.

Stuart John for Parsons asked for his sentence to be suspended because he had “turned his life around” since committing his offences more than two years ago.

His client, he added, had a full-time job, worked for a veterans’ charity and was now “drug-free”.

Recorder Duncan Bould told the defendants: “Each of you will know, because of your own experiences, the dangers of class A drugs, particularly in this case cocaine and heroin, in relation to other members of society.

“Whilst you were at large and dealing drugs in the various ways in which the court has heard about, you gave little, if any, thought to the damage that you were inflicting upon the individuals to whom you were engaged in supplying.

“The supply of these drugs to others can sometimes drive them to other crimes in order to feed their reliance on these highly addictive substances.”