FOUR Forest men have been sentenced to a total of nearly 20 years in prison for their part in a massive drugs conspiracy.

Alan Ballinger, of St John Street, Coleford, Shane Tyrrell, of Cliff View, Sedbury and Milling Crescent, Aylburton, Jason Grindle of Market Place, Coleford, Paul Johnson of Station Terrace Cinderford and Queen’s Acre, Newnham were part of two gangs transporting cocaine between the Midlands, Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire.

Gloucestershire Police say the conspiracy was uncovered when local people reported drug dealing at the butcher’s shop run by Tyrrell in Sedbury.

The investigation into the eight-man drugs operation esulted in just under £500,000 worth of cocaine being seized along with £108,600 cash, Gloucester Crown Court heard.

Judge Ian Lawrie said those figures were “just the tip of the iceberg” because the operation had been underway for some time before arrests were made.

Grindle and Johnson  admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine between February 1, 2020 and September15, 2021.

Grindle, 36, was sentenced to six years in jail and 35-year-old Johnson five years and seven months.

Johnson also admitted possession with intent to supply cannabis and dangerous driving for offences which occurred when he was stopped on April 23, 2021.

Tyrrell admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and amphetamine between February 1 and July 7 2021 and was sentenced to five years in jail.

Ballinger, 28, was charged with possession with intent to supply cocaine and possession of criminal property. He was also charged with the conspiracy from July to September 2021.

He was sentenced to 42 months and had £45,000 seized but he had alraady served his time and was released.

The two ring-leaders, Richard Lawrence, 34, of Smithy Road, Llandogo, and Brett Anslow, 39, of Dudley West Midlands were each jailed for nine years after admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine.

was charged with possession with intent to supply cocaine and possession of criminal property. He was also charged with the conspiracy from July to September 2021.

Judge Lawrie told the eight defendants that whatever their role, each had a knowledge of the purpose and the scale of the enterprise and were driven for financial reward.

Prosecutor Christine Hart explained “The conspiracy involved two separate, but linked, organised crime groups.  

“There were 35 known key meetings between the two groups throughout this period.

“Paul Johnson attended drug meetings in Dudley on two occasions while Tyrrell travelled to the West Midlands at least once.

“Jason Grindle travelled (to Dudley) twice. 

“Both Lawrence and Grindle are said to have met up with Brett Anslow at Brightwells car auctions in Leominster.

““Another man Alan Ballinger, 28, formerly of Coleford and also of Coniston Road, Cheltenham, is a cocaine dealer in his own right, and was seen to have taken Lawrence’s role after his arrest in July 2021 and continued to be supplied by the West Midlands group.

“The course and extent of the offending is mapped through telecommunications and automatic number plate recognition data (ANPR), along with direct observations of key players, followed by arrests and searches of premises.“They show the frequency of trips from and to the West Midlands and the interactions between the groups and the defendants."

One of the members of a drugs gang took off at high speed after his car had been stopped by police in St Briavels – as the officer reached through the window to take the keys out of the ignition.

PC Boyden estimated the car driven by Paul Johnson travelled for two or three metres with him “hanging on the side”, Gloucester Crown Court heard.

Johnson was one of an eight-strong gang who have been jailed for a total of some 50 years after the drugs ring they operated was busted by Operation Global.

Prosecutor Christine Hart said: “Johnson was seen in the drivers’ seat of his car at St Briavels Castle in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, by PC Boyden.

“The officer spoke to him through an open window and noted a suspicious package wrapped in cling film on the back seat.

“He explained that he would be detained for a drugs search however Johnson put his car keys in the ignition. As PC Boyden reached in the window to try and remove them, Johnson accelerated forwards knocking him off his feet.“His arm remained in the car and meant he was able to pull the keys out the ignition. PC Boyden estimates the car travelled about two or three meters with him ‘hanging on the side’.

““When Johnson was eventually detained he told officers, ‘That box in the back seat, there is weed in it and I’ve only just picked up the box. There will be a bag of white powder in the car, that’s mine.“A box containing nearly one kilogram of cannabis and 0.854 grams of cocaine was seized, along with three further packages containing a total of 22.4g of crack cocaine and 69.8 grams of cocaine hydrochloride were also found on the floor along with two mobile phones.

Another member of the gang, Shane Tyrrell, was under surveillance by undercover police as he arrived at his butcher’s shop in Sedbury at around 6.35am on July 6 2021.

Ms Hart said: ““Internal CCTV recovered from Sedbury Butchers shows him place a blue tub into a black bin liner.

“He is seen to carry two laden bin liners to his car before returning to his home address at about 9.20am.

“Observations continued throughout the day and Tyrrell is seen to come and go from Sedbury butchers several times.

“At about 5.40pm two police teams simultaneously arrested Tyrrell and (Richard) Lawrence at their home addresses.

“Warrants were also executed at two addresses linked to them.

“Within the garage of Tyrrell’s property, police found four containers of high purity cocaine totalling 3,418 grams.

“They also found 1,222 grams of benzocaine a common cocaine bulking agent.

““When one of the four tubs was forensically tested, Tyrrell’s DNA and (Trevor) Cook’s fingerprints, were located on it.  That tub contained 2,779 grams of cocaine and on its own, had a street value of £277,900 if sold in gram deals.

“In addition, a bag containing 971 grams of amphetamine, valued at around £9,710. Further drugs paraphernalia was located within the garage which included what appeared to be a custom-made drugs press, along with a blender, digital scales contaminated with white powder and a number of plastic food bags.

“When the Sedbury Butchers was searched, four bags containing amphetamine was found in the freezer at the rear of the shop. This had a total weight of 3440 grams when wet or 2,756 grams when it had been dried. A total of £9,839 in cash was also seized.

Tyrrell’s DNA was also found on two tubs containing a total of 1.3kgs of cocaine in a Monmouth storage unit – along with that of Lawrence and Johnson.

After Tyrrell and Lawrence had been arrested, another member of the gang, Jason Grindle, tried to contact them.

Two days later, on July 8, Grindle contacted another of the conspirators, Alan Ballinger for the first time.

On August 4, Ballinger contacted Brett Anslow of Dudley who took over from Lawrence as leader of the Gloucestershire end of the conspiracy and Ballinger was seen travelling to the West Midlands.

Ballinger met another member of the gang, Michael Chand of Birmingham, in Lydney and the following day he sent a message to 220 contacts.

When Grindle was arrested at his address in Market Place, Coleford on September 15 he told officers, I don’t have anything to do with drugs. I got a friend who got arrested for drugs. A mobile phone was then located behind a chest of drawers which had been used by him until the day that Tyrrell and Lawrence were arrested.

Johnson was arrested on December 4, 2021 after his white Vauxhall Astra was stopped in Cinderford.

Ballinger was arrested on December 10, at his address in Coleford. Officers found 15 to 20 wraps of half gram wraps of cocaine and over £44,000 in cash.

He was in possession of two ledgers containing lists reflecting drug supply dating back to October 2020.  One page of the ledger reflects values of drugs at nearly £144,000, other pages detail many thousands of pounds in drugs and cash.

At the time of his arrest, Ballinger was on bail and awaiting sentence for two counts of offering to supply cocaine.

He was found to be in possession of cocaine and a substantial amount of cash. He was charged with possession with intent to supply cocaine and possession of criminal property. He was also charged with the conspiracy from July to September 2021.

Lawrence and Tyrrell pleaded guilty to the conspiracy to supply cocaine between February 1, 2020 and July 7, 2021 and Anslow, Cook, Chand, Johnson and Grindle admitted the conspiracy between February 1, 2020 and September15, 2021.In addition Lawrence and Tyrell pleaded guilty to, conspiracy to supply amphetamine between the same dates. Johnson also admitted the possession with intent to supply cannabis and dangerous driving for offences which occurred when he was stopped on April 23, 2021.

Earl Pinnock for Grindle said: “He states that he never saw or handled any drugs. His involvement in the conspiracy was using his van with Lawrence and the others and when this was explained to him, the penny dropped and pleaded guilty. This is his first brush with the law and in reality his involvement was seven full days over four months. He is remorseful and whilst in prison he has become the lead singer of a band known as ‘The Lost Souls’ in tribute to his cell mate who died earlier this year.”

Sarah Jenkins for Tyrrell said: “When he was arrested his marriage ended and he returned to court asking to be remanded in custody. But a few weeks later he asked to be considered for bail as his father had died. He is remorseful about his offending. He is now free of drugs after obtaining specialised counselling. He pleaded guilty two years ago and he is still waiting to be sentenced.”

Catherine Spedding for Johnson said: “He had a long-standing drug addiction to cocaine. He was a welder but when he lost this job he became homeless and turned to drugs and joined the operation. He travelled to Dudley on a number of occasions. He was involved in 13 meetings with others. It is clear that Johnson was told when and where to go. He tried to lay low in his car, but was eventually arrested in his vehicle. He is remorseful and is now back welding again.”Mr Harbinson for Ballinger said his client was in a different position to the others as he needs to be sentenced for additional drug-related charges. His involvement in the main conspiracy was only for a short period that commenced in July and ended in September 2021 when he was arrested. Initially he was remanded in custody for 21 months, but he has been on conditional bail in recent months and is now beginning to turn his life around.”

Judge Ian Lawrie KC said: “The primary roles were headed by Anslow in the West Midlands and Lawrence in Gloucestershire and had the others working for them.

“They were the puppeteers and were directing the illicit operation. They were also supplying different types of drugs.”

The judge sentenced Lawrence and Anslow to a prison term of nine years each and told them that they had leading roles in their relevant areas of the country, but had made constructive use of their time in custody.

The judge reminded Cook that he was the transport link man and sentenced him to six years and told Grindle that he was a trusted errand boy and sentenced him and Chand to six year in prison each.

The judge pointed out that Johnson tried to drive off when he was arrested and he was sentenced to five years and seven months in prison.

Tyrrell was sentenced to the same term and was told that all the monies found in his possession would be confiscated.

The judge told Ballinger that he became involved at the end of the conspiracy and had taken over from Lawrence after he had been arrested.

He was sentenced to 42 months, but was being released having served this term whilst on custody. The judge ordered the deprivation of £45,000 found in his possession.

The judge ordered the forfeiture and destruction of all the drugs seized and paraphernalia.