Four convicted in cannabis product supply plot

Taylor KennedyImage source, Nottinghamshire Police
Image caption,

Taylor Kennedy was making "substantial" amounts from dealing cannabis products

  • Published

A package of cannabis products worth £60,000 intercepted at Stansted Airport led to four people being convicted for their roles in a drug supply plot.

Police said the parcel was sent from Los Angeles, USA, in January 2022 but never reached its destination in Collingham, Nottinghamshire.

Instead, officers arrived at an address in Lilac Close in Newark in March 2022 to carry out a raid and found large amounts of cannabis, edibles, and oil infused with the class B drug, all hidden in a wardrobe.

The property was the home of Taylor Kennedy, who on Wednesday was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court after earlier pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply a Class B drug.

The 27-year-old was jailed for three years and nine months, and will be subject to a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing to recover his illegally obtained income.

Nottinghamshire Police say analysis of Kennedy’s bank accounts revealed he was making large amounts that were unaccounted for.

Image source, PA
Image caption,

The parcel only made it as far as Stansted Airport in Essex

Three other members of the conspiracy, Leona Churton, Emily Davies and John Jones, were also sentenced after admitting the same offence.

Jones, 50, of Windsor Close in Collingham, was sentenced to 21 months in jail, suspended for two years, while 26-year-old Churton, of the same address, received a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.

And Davies, 26, of Lilac Close, Newark, was handed a nine-month sentence, suspended for 18 months.

Churton admitted she had been preparing cannabis products for sale at the address, while analysis of Jones’ phone revealed he had been discussing a package arriving and how many edibles had been made with Kennedy.

Det Con Rebecca Brailsford said: “This was a large-scale operation, and Kennedy in particular was making substantial amounts of money while getting other people to do the dirty work.

“He may have thought his criminality would go undetected because the bulk supply of drugs was being sent to others.

“However, our detailed investigations led directly to him, and we were able to build a watertight case against all four offenders.”

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