County lines drugs lord, 32, relied on three runners with a combined age of 169 to push crack cocaine and heroin worth £75,000 into quaint market towns

• Nicholas Ward ran sophisticated drugs empire from his home in West Bromwich
• He used couriers aged 61, 55, and 53 to deliver to customers across Midlands
• Ringleader jailed for nine years after police smashed the gang in a raid in 2018 

The leader of a county lines drugs gang relied on three runners with a combined age of 169 to push crack cocaine and heroin into market and spa towns.

Nicholas Ward, 32, ran the hotline from his home in West Bromwich, West Midlands, and employed runners, including Adrian Tipping, 61, John Kettle, 55, and Anthony Clarke, 53, to supply more than 80 ‘customers’ in Malvern, Worcestershire, and Ledbury, Herefordshire.

It is thought Ward, known by his alias ‘Nathan’, made up to £75,000 before police stopped the gang in March 2018. The runners were largely paid in drugs.

Nicholas Ward is thought to have made up to £75,000 masterminding a drugs empire from his home in West Bromwich. He used couriers with a combined age of 169 to make deliveries

At Worcester Crown Court on Tuesday, Ward was jailed for nine years.

Tipping and Kettle, both of Cradley, Herefordshire, were given a 42-month prison term and three years respectively.

Clarke, of Malvern, was jailed for three years, and accomplice Aleksandrs Savcuks, 19, of no fixed address, was ordered to serve 40 months in a young offender institution. 

They all admitted conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

Ward’s runners were mainly paid in drugs. Adrian Tipping (top left), John Kettle (top right), and Anthony Clarke (bottom left) were all given jail sentences. Accomplice Aleksandrs Savcuks (bottom right) was sent to a young offender institution

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