'Ring and bring' drug dealers given jail sentences

Josh Ashton (right) was the "ringleader" supplying Doncaster communities with heroin and cocaine, police said

A gang who "flooded" three communities with heroin and crack cocaine have been given prison sentences of more than 14 years.

Ringleader Josh Ashton and "workers" Logan Day, Billy Alexander and Adie Cliff ran a "ring and bring" drugs line supplying Conisbrough, Denaby and Mexborough, near Doncaster.

The "Ash Line" service had a number for customers to contact when they wanted to have drugs delivered to them.

South Yorkshire Police arrested Day, Alexander and Cliff in November last year and they were sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on 19 July.

Billy Alexander (L) and Adie Cliff (R) were also jailed for their part in the Doncaster drugs gang

Complex case

Bodycams captured Cliff's arrest as he got out of a taxi in Mexborough and ran away from police while throwing away a mobile phone and white powder believed to be cocaine, police said.

The 22-year-old was apprehended in a field and taken into custody.

Cliff, of Woodlands Way in Denaby Main, was sentenced to three years and four months in prison after pleading guilty to supplying heroin and crack cocaine.

Day, 27, of Athelstane Road in Conisbrough, was given the same jail term for the same offences.

Alexander, 21, of Cadeby Avenue in Conisbrough, was jailed for three years after admitting possession with intent to supply heroin and crack cocaine, supplying the Class A drugs, and possession of cannabis.

Ashton, 20, from Parkgate Avenue in Conisbrough, was jailed for four years and eight months for two counts of supplying heroin.

The convictions formed part of Operation Dream Alpha, an investigation into street dealing in Doncaster.

Det Sgt Rachael Smith said the case had been "really complex".

"Ashton was a volatile individual pulling the strings on this drugs line," she said.

"He recruited various individuals to sell heroin and cocaine on the streets of Doncaster and I am pleased he and the three other defendants have been given significant custodial sentences."

The force said the use and supply of drugs was directly linked to organised crime groups using violence or threats to gain control of areas of Doncaster.

Ms Smith said the sentences meant supply lines were cut, stopping the drugs making their way into communities.

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