Drug seller's messages discussed £400k of deals

Harry Monteith was jailed at Newcastle Crown Court

A drug dealer who helped arrange the supply of £400,000 worth of cocaine and cannabis in the north-east of England has been jailed for seven years and three months.

Harry Monteith, 46, discussed large deals via EncroChat, collected money and managed a number of cannabis farms during the first coronavirus lockdown, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

He was a "highly trusted" member of the drugs gang which had caused devastation to people in the North East, a judge said.

Monteith, of Lytham Place in Newcastle, admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine and cannabis.

Monteith was operating under the username DiorBlade via an EncroChat phone between March and June 2020, prosecutor Jessica Slaughter said.

'Dealers socialised together'

He was in regular contact with a user called CrowdControl and then VikingRocks, with that man having been subsequently jailed for his involvement, the court heard.

CrowdControl owned a number of cannabis farms which Monteith would manage and on occasion stay at for security during crop harvests, including one in a flat in Blaydon, Ms Slaughter said.

Over the period monitored by police, the two men exchanged messages arranging the purchase and sale of a total of 7.5kg of cocaine with a wholesale value of £300,000, 13kg of cannabis worth £39,000 and 41kg of cannabis resin worth £50,250, the court heard.

As well as discussing drug deals and collecting thousands of pounds from customers, the messages also showed the men were friends who would socialise with each other, Ms Slaughter said.

Monteith was banned from driving so would use a "taxi driver friend" to take him to meetings with CrowdControl and on supply runs, the court heard.

Ms Slaughter said the case had taken five years to conclude because of the number of people police and prosecutors had to investigate.

Judge Julie Clemitson said she was not criticising prosecutors, but having to wait that long to be dealt with was a "form of punishment" for defendants like Monteith who had "suffered with uncertainty".

She said Monteith was a "highly trusted" worker for a "relatively top tier drug trafficker" in the North East.

The judge said Monteith's employer was responsible for bringing in "well over" 1,000kg of high purity cocaine which was swiftly adulterated and then sold on.

Monteith knew the scale of the operation and the "damage" caused to communities by the illegal drug trade, Judge Clemitson said, adding it "blighted" and "destroyed" lives of addicts, their families and the victims they offended against to fund their habits.