Three men sentenced for South Bristol drug line

From left: Kavel Hines-Hastings, Kemar Watson and Shomari Kondwani

Three Bristol men who admitted being part of an operation selling Class A drugs have been sentenced.

Shomari Kondwani, 32, of Linnell Close, Kemar Watson, 20, of Selbrooke Crescent and Hines-Hastings, 20, of Cottrell Road were given prison sentences at the city's crown court.

Insp Chris Green from Avon and Somerset Police said people who sell drugs are "the scourge of society".

The operation the trio ran covered the south of the city, police said.

All three men admitted two counts of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs at Bristol Crown Court last week.

Kondwani controlled the mobile phone which drug users would contact to by cocaine and heroin while Watson and Hines-Hastings were two of Kondwani's couriers who would deliver the drugs on his behalf, the court heard.

Watson and Hines-Hastings also each admitted two charges of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs during an earlier hearing.

Insp Green said: "They cause significant harm to communities not only by facilitating the habits of vulnerable people but by increasing anti-social behaviour and acquisitive crime as they look to fund their addictions."

He added that dismantling the organised criminal networks responsible for supplying drugs is a "priority" for Avon and Somerset Police.

The trio were caught after officers found wraps of cocaine and heroin on a man they'd stopped in Bedminster on 29 July.

The drugs had been ordered and bought via a phone registered to Kondwani.

Phone led to raid

When offices stopped him in his car a few days later, they recovered the phone and found it had been used to orchestrate the whole operation.

The same day, officers raided a property on Hollidge Gardens in Southville and found Watson and Hines-Hastings along with nearly £2,000 worth of Class A drugs.

Kondwani was jailed for four years and eight months and was made subject to a six-year Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO).

Watson was jailed for two years and six months and given a four-year CBO while Hines-Hastings was handed a 20-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

In addition, Hines-Hastings was given a two-year CBO and told to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.