A DEALER who trafficked class A drugs into the Wye Valley has been sentenced to five years eight months at court.

Joshua Moore, 32, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to several counts relating to the possession and supply of crack cocaine and heroin at Worcester Crown Court last week.

He was sentenced for four counts of being concerned in the supply of heroin, being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine, possession with intent to supply heroin and possession and possession with intent to supply crack cocaine.

Moore was further sentenced to six months to run concurrently for possession of criminal property and ordered to forfeit the sum of £1,653.81 and possession of cannabis for which there was no separate penalty.

All of Moore’s drugs, drugs paraphernalia and phones linked to his offending, which centred on Ross-on-Wye, were ordered to be seized and destroyed by the judge who said that his early guilty plea had enabled his sentence to be reduced from the starting point in the guidelines.

Detective Constable Emily Holder of Hereford CID said: “We welcome this sentence as a reflection of the severity of Moore’s offending.

“Moore managed a drug supply line trafficking class A drugs into the local Ross community. The misery of drug supply is well known - it motivates offending and destroys lives.

“Moore showed no concern for the impact of his offending and benefited from the financial gain of his criminality.

“I hope that this sentence stands as a deterrent to those who are involved in drug supply.

“Officers from Hereford CID will not tolerate this type of offending and will work with our partner agencies to bring these offenders to justice.”

If you have information about drugs and drugs supply and don’t want to speak to police, you can report information anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or https://crimestoppers-uk.org/

This investigation forms part of Operation Target – West Mercia Police’s work to tackle serious and organised crime.