Grimsby 'roof hideout' drug dealer jailed for 10 years

Joshua Hendry spent 90 minutes on the roof of a house in Grimsby following a drugs raid

A drug dealer who tried to evade a police raid by hiding on a roof has been jailed for 10 years.

Joshua Hendry, 27, of Lochinvar Street, Liverpool, was convicted in his absence of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs at Grimsby Crown Court.

A second man, Wade Chambers, 23, of Porton Road, Liverpool, was jailed for six years and 10 months.

Jake Pilling, 27, of New Street, St Helens, admitted the charge and was jailed for four years and four months.

A warrant has been issued for Hendry's arrest.

During the trial, which concluded on Thursday, the court heard Hendry - described as the ringleader - tried to evade police "by fleeing to a nearby rooftop" after a raid at a property in Willingham Street, Grimsby, on 18 May last year.

He was arrested some 90 minutes later but was bailed and has since vanished.

Wade Chambers (left) was convicted after a trial, while Jake Pilling admitted conspiracy to supply Class A drugs

The court heard the gang based themselves in Grimsby by "cuckooing" the home of a local man who had turned to drugs following a bereavement.

The term "cuckooing" refers to dealers commandeering a vulnerable person's property as a place to sell drugs from.

Det Con Abbie Park, who led the operation, said: "It became clear that this gang had exploited the existing tenant by plying him with free drugs and taking over his house in order to use it as a base for their drug dealing operation.

"Dozens of known drug users were regularly seen going into the house and leaving a short time later," she said.

Detectives found more than £1,000 in cash at the house, along with a number of mobile phones.

One text referring to the price of a bag of heroin read: "Straight 10s on the b coz there big bags but can do 6 for 50".