Drug dealer who went on the run for months jailed

A man who went on the run for seven months after he admitted conspiracy to supply Class A drugs in a Lincolnshire seaside resort has been jailed.

Connor Stewart, 23, of Lincoln Road, Skegness, had been due to be sentenced in February after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine in the town, but failed to attend court for the hearing.

He was eventually tracked down to the Bulwell area of Nottingham and arrested on 3 September.

Stewart, who appeared at Lincoln Crown Court on Thursday, was sentenced to six years and seven months in prison.

The court heard the defendant had taken over the Skegness end of a drug dealing operation known as the "Scouse line", which ran from 1 April 2022 to 30 March 2023, from Grimsby-based Joel Tasker, 31, who was jailed for 12 years in February.

Stewart was responsible for sourcing, supplying, preparing and washing the crack cocaine, and recruited others to run the line, and at times "exerted intimidation" Judge Simon Hirst told the court.

The judge said Stewart had been at the "centre of the conspiracy".

In mitigation, the court was told Stewart had saved a woman's life during his time on the run in Nottingham, and was aged only 19 at the time of the offending.

Speaking at the conclusion of the case, Det Sgt Adam Petty, from Lincolnshire Police, said "a dangerous conspiracy" that sought to "flood our streets with drugs and fuel violence" had been dismantled.

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