M6 motorway drug courier jailed for almost six years

Ricky Hughes was stopped by police at Tebay services

A drug courier who was stopped by police at a motorway service station has been jailed for almost six years.

Ricky Kieran Hughes, 37, caught police attention at about 04:00 GMT on 6 December when he twice pulled off the M6 in Cumbria to turn around.

He was stopped at Tebay services where officers found 600 crack cocaine and heroin wraps in a paint pot in the boot of his Nissan hire car.

Hughes admitted possessing the drugs with intent to supply.

Hughes, of Boatmans Walk, Ashton-under-Lyne, also admitted possessing cannabis found in the vehicle and obstructing a PC, having initially given bogus identity details to police.

"He was acting as a courier," said his barrister Matthew Buckland, "working off a debt."

‪The court heard he was jailed as a teenager for supplying class A drugs, and then again for four years in 2013.‬

‪Jailing him for 2,045 days - or just under five years and eight months - Judge Nicholas Barker said he had committed a "serious offence", adding: "There is a significant problem with the movement of drugs up the M6 from Liverpool."‬