Ross Ball: Drug dealers jailed over Sutton-in-Ashfield addict's murder

Six men who murdered an addict to recover a flat they previously used for drug-dealing have been jailed for life.

Ross Ball, 42, was attacked at his flat at Langton Court, Sutton-in-Ashfield, on 1 November 2019.

A trial at Nottingham Crown Court heard the gang moved after a rival operation took over the property.

Six men were found guilty of murder for their part in the attack, while a seventh was cleared of murder, but found guilty of manslaughter.

The court heard Mr Ball was "a vulnerable man" who was letting drug dealers use his flat for about six months before his death. The dealing operation, which was led by Cooper, at one point earned £3,000 a day.

A "rival drug gang" took over the property days before Mr Ball's death.

On 1 November, before the gang's bid to retake the property, Jake Honer said he was attacked by three men while staying in a neighbouring flat.

Buckley, Daw, Honer, Jones, McDonald and Sharman drove to Sutton-in-Ashfield in two cars with false number plates, with the court hearing Cooper was "directing and controlling events" over the phone from Mansfield.

At about 22:30 GMT the six men entered Langton Court armed with machetes and baseball bats, and went to the door of Mr Ball's flat. Three men in the property jumped out of the window to escape.

Mr Ball was intercepted in the street and brutally attacked, the court heard, and a blow that "partially amputated" his right foot was said to be the fatal wound.

Sentencing, Judge Julian Goose QC said Cooper was "the leader" who directed the "revenge attack" from afar and got the others to do his "dirty work" and recover the "highly lucrative" operation.

Though he said it was not clear who delivered the fatal blow, all those guilty of murder "played their role in supporting whoever did it", he said.

Det Insp Becky Hodgman, of Nottinghamshire Police, said the sentences came after "a large and complex investigation", and showed the "cycle of violence" around the drugs trade.

"Ross Ball was a man caught in a cycle of drug use which tragically left him vulnerable to the actions of violent criminals," she said.

"This is a really sad case, and it's important to remember that it only takes a few hard knocks and wrong turns in life to end up in a similar position."

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