London criminal commuted daily to Hastings to distribute Class A drugs

A convicted drug-dealer who commuted daily from London to Hastings to distribute Class A substances has been jailed.

Joel Henry was convicted of being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin on Thursday 25 April.

It followed a four-day trial at Chichester Crown Court, where a jury found him guilty of the offences.

The court heard that upon his arrest in St Leonards on 8 November, Henry was found in possession of a burner style mobile phone.

Data analysis showed the 40-year-old had been travelling between his home in Lakeview Road, Lambeth, London, and Hastings on a daily basis to deal to vulnerable users on the street.

Further examination showed he had been sending out bulk messages advertising the sale of crack cocaine and heroin.

Following the guilty verdict, Henry was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment.

Investigator Julian Stokes, of the Project ADDER team, said: “This was another successful joint investigation to take a drug dealer pedalling dangerous Class A drugs off the streets of Hastings and St Leonards by Op Orochi officers from the Metropolitan Police, Sussex Police and Surrey Police Op Centurion, and officers from Project ADDER based in Hastings.

“Henry already had two previous convictions for the supply of Class A drugs and therefore this third conviction meant that a mandatory seven years’ imprisonment was handed down to him.

“We will continue to identify County Lines and those dealing these dangerous Class A drugs within our community and stop them. The sentencing of Henry demonstrates how serious the courts deal with those pedalling Class A on our streets.”