Eight members of Ipswich 'YouTube' drugs gang jailed

Top row (L-R): Abbas Uddin, Lamar Dagnon, Tyler Woodley and Jake Bristol. Bottom row (L-R): Haden Fraser, Jake Marsh, Liam Roberts and Tawfiq O'Connor

Eight members of a drug-dealing gang who "boasted" about their activities in online videos have been jailed.

The men were part of the "Neno" mobile phone drugs operation in Ipswich, Stowmarket and east Suffolk.

The gang's rivalry with another gang was implicated in the fatal stabbing of Tavis Spencer-Aitkens, 17, in Ipswich in 2018.

Abbas Uddin, who police said headed the group, was handed the longest sentence of 15 years and eight months.

The drug-dealing offences took place between August 2017 and June 2018.

Ipswich Crown Court heard the Neno gang was also involved in an incident where a shotgun was fired at the door of a house on Old Foundry Road in Leiston, Suffolk, on 30 May 2018.

No-one was injured, but police chased a car containing four males along the A12 before it was abandoned in the Ravenswood area of east Ipswich.

The stabbing took place in the car park of a McDonald's restaurant in Ipswich

Neno gang members were also linked to a stabbing outside McDonald's in Ravenswood on 13 June 2018 when a 16-year-old had to be treated in hospital for serious injuries.

The court also heard details of a robbery where a phone, wallet and sports equipment was stolen from a group of people who were in a vehicle in Wickham Market in April last year.

The defendants, all from Ipswich unless stated, were:

• Abbas Uddin, 26, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, possession of a shotgun, a robbery in Wickham Market in April 2018. He was jailed for 15 years and eight months

• Jake Marsh, 18, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, possession of a shotgun relating to Leiston and violent disorder relating to the McDonalds stabbing. He was jailed for seven years and two months

• Tyler Woodley, 18, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, possession of a shotgun relating to Leiston. He was jailed for six years and 11 months

• Haden Fraser, 19, was found guilty of possession of a shotgun relating to Leiston. He was jailed for four year and eight months

• Jake Bristol, 47, formerly of Leiston, was found guilty of possession of a shotgun, attempted burglary with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, drug-driving in relation to the Leiston incident. He was jailed for three years and seven months

• Tawfiq O'Connor, 18, admitted conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. He was jailed for four years

• Lamar Dagnon, 22, admitted conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and robbery in Wickham Market. He was jailed for eight years and 10 months

• Liam Roberts, 19, found guilty of robbery in Wickham Market. He was jailed for four years

At another trial earlier this year, five members of the J-block gang from the Jubilee Park area of west Ipswich were jailed for killing Tavis Spencer-Aitkens, who was an acquaintance of the Neno gang and had appeared in some of their YouTube videos.

Tavis Spencer-Aitkens, who appeared in Neno videos, was stabbed to death by a rival gang

Suffolk Police said evidence of Neno's criminality was found in their YouTube videos which were played in court where they "boasted about their activities".

Det Ch Supt Eamonn Bridger said: "This complex drug business, known as Neno, were selling drugs on the streets of Ipswich and other local towns, bringing fear and exploitation to residents and vulnerable people.

"I am pleased that they have been given significant custodial sentences."