Ipswich/Worcester: Drug dealers Sanchez Hamilton and Aiden Collins get jail terms totalling nearly 10 years

Two drug dealers from Ipswich who were part of a large-scale cocaine and heroin ring have been jailed for a total of nine years and eight months.

Sanchez Hamilton, formerly of Lakeside Close, Ipswich, and Aiden Collins, of Peterhouse Close, Ipswich, were among an 11-strong gang sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court.

Hamilton, now of no fixed abode, was given seven years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and heroin.

The 24-year-old, who at one stage was a promising local footballer in Ipswich, had become one of the most trusted dealers of the ring’s kingpin, Craig Wright.

The pair met while serving prison sentences. Wright, a 29-year-old Liverpudlian, placed Hamilton in the Worcester area to oversee his drug dealing operation in the city.

In 2010, Hamilton was jailed for two years after his then-girlfriend sustained serious facial injuries when he drove along Manchester Road in Ipswich with her on the roof of his Audi A3.

She had been trying to stop him from driving because she thought he had been drinking.

Collins was imprisoned for two years and eight months after admitting conspiracy to supply crack cocaine, heroin and cannabis. The 25-year-old worked as a drug runner for Hamilton and Wright.

In total the gang were sentenced to more than 53 years for being part of a conspiracy to supply drugs in Worcester.

Wright used threats of violence and intimidation to run his operation, even while in prison.

The sentencings were the culmination of a West Mercia Police investigation into the gang which was based mainly in Worcester, but had contacts across the country.

The gang were believed to have been active since 2007.

Wright admitted conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and heroin as well as money laundering and was sentenced to eight years and eight months in jail.