Brighton: County line drug gangs used children as 'cannon fodder'

Four children were used to deal crack cocaine and heroin around Brighton and Hove in 2020.

A drug gang from Essex has now been jailed for a total of 53 years and eight months for their exploitation and “devastating impact on communities”.

The gang supplied around 8,000 wraps of Class A drugs in the city with a street value of around £80,000.

The county line ran between Essex and Brighton (Image: Sussex News and Pictures)

This was the second iteration of what police called the "Hector" line which was first dismantled after a two-year operation that saw ten men jailed for a total of more than 64 years.

But the county line returned under new leadership in 2020 with five senior members in Essex - Thomas Warwick, Gary Goodwin, Jayden Henry-Flavien, Liam Harvey and Harley Roberts.

Harley Roberts, 25, of Havalon Close in Basildon, is the latest member to be sentenced at Hove Crown Court on Thursday, September 14.

Roberts was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison for supplying crack cocaine and heroin, and conspiracy to commit a modern slavery offence.

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Three more people were identified as being involved in the transportation of people and drugs, and support of the criminal conspiracy – Dean Warrington, Cris Donovan and Nicola McKenzie, who allowed the group to use her property in Brighton as a base of operations.

Alongside drug convictions, all eight members were convicted of modern slavery offences against four children.

They were all arrested in several operations between October 2020 and the summer of 2021.

They were each subsequently charged with conspiracy to commit a modern slavery offence for their role in exploiting the children, as well as conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and conspiracy to supply heroin.

All eight pleaded guilty to all of the offences against them. The other seven members were sentenced at Hove Crown Court on August 31.

Donovan, 31, was jailed for five years, Goodwin, 23, was jailed for seven years, Harvey, 25, was jailed for eight and a half years, Henry-Flavien, 31, was jailed for eight years, McKenzie, 49, was given a 24 months suspended sentence, Warrington, 47, was jailed for four and a half years and Warwick, 32, was sentenced for 11 years.

Passing sentence in August, Judge Stephen Mooney said the gang regarded the exploited children as “disposable cannon fodder by those in charge, who care not for the risks of violence or worse that they run as they supply drugs to desperate addicts”.

Detective Superintendent Kris Ottery said: “County lines drags a wide range of innocent people into its orbit and has a devastating impact on communities that goes beyond the harmful substances themselves.

“In this instance we have not just brought eight dangerous individuals to justice for their crimes – we have also safeguarded four vulnerable children and protected innumerable other people from their harmful trade.

“I would like to commend the investigative team, our partners in the Met Police and Essex Police, and the variety of community agencies for this complex, thorough investigation that has helped make the streets of Sussex safer for everyone.”