Dealer who mass messaged town's addicts jailed

James Porter lived a "lavish" lifestyle off the proceeds of drugs, police said

A dealer who was part of a gang supplying drugs from Nottingham to a Derbyshire town has been jailed.

James Porter had been sending out scores of bulk messages to drug users in Ilkeston, in order to sell Class A and B drugs when he came on to the police's radar in 2022.

Officers raided a number of properties in Wollaton linked to Porter and found drugs, cash, phones, lists of customers, deal bags and weighing scales, as well as designer clothing, knives and an axe.

At Nottingham Crown Court on Wednesday, the 32-year-old was sentenced to seven years.

Weapons were recovered during police raids in Wollaton

Porter, of Calderdale in Wollaton, Nottingham, had pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to supply Class A drugs, possession with intent to supply cocaine and heroin, and possession of a Class B drug.

Messages on his devices showed almost 200 mass messages had been sent to addicts in the town.

Following his sentencing, PC Jack Shephard said Porter had been "enjoying a lavish lifestyle funded by the sale of drugs" by dealing to "vulnerable people addicted to Class A drugs".