Drugs gang broken up as duo are jailed (From This Is Wiltshire)

A DRUGS gang which set up a commercial enterprise selling heroin and crack cocaine on the streets of Swindon has been smashed.

The Breaker Network sold thousands of pounds worth of hard drugs after coming to the town from London.

Selling up to 100 deals a day, they recruited young addicts to act as their runners, complete deals or store large amounts of stock.

The dealers intimidated others with violence and threats of rape and murder to allow their homes to be used for their operation.

Now 21-year-old Anthony Brown, who ran the operation, and Jordan Carty, 20, have been given lengthy jail terms.

Brown, known as Breaker, and Carty, called Shorty, were both still teenagers when they started peddling hard drugs in 2010.

In early 2011 they were stopped by the police in Kent Road and found to have a mobile phone, which was later used for dealing drugs on the streets. Brown was also at a flat in Grosvenor Road which was raided by the police.

His fingerprints were on five banknotes found in the home of a 16-year-old girl who was jailed for having £17,000 of hard drugs and almost £6,000 in cash.

Claire Marlow, prosecuting, said a user and his girlfriend who became embroiled in the operation told the police Brown used to sell them drugs.

After a while the dealer told him his friend Shorty needed a place to live, as he was homeless, and offered the man rent along with free drugs if he could use his spare room.

While he was living at the house in Ferndale Road, Carty would receive numerous calls on his mobile causing him to leave for short periods. Brown also spent a lot of time visiting and it became clear they were dealing drugs from the house.

After the user told Brown he was not happy about the situation he turned nasty, assaulting him and threatening to rape his girlfriend and kill his child.

He also brought two baseball bats to the house which he routinely used to assault the man and threatened him if he didn’t collect money for him.

Carty also bagged up the drugs at the house and the man and his girlfriend were also forced to help.

When police raided the houses in Ferndale Road and County Road last autumn, they found more than 100 wraps of drugs along with thousands of pounds.

Miss Marlow said: “Since their arrest the Breaker supply chain ceased to exist in the Swindon area.”

Brown, of County Road, and Carty, of no fixed abode, each pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply hard drugs.

Daryl Cherrett, for Brown, said he accepted his client played the lead in the operation but it was part of a wider scale network.

He said Carty’s father Andrew, who is serving a lengthy jail term for drug related violence, really ran the show. He pointed out he was only 19 at the time it all started so it would be surprising if he was the lynchpin, and he was very sorry for what he had done.

Gary Pons, for Carty, said his client was also full of remorse and pointed out that he played a lesser role than his co-defendant.

Judge Douglas Field jailed Brown for five years and Carty for three years and eight months.

He said: “I am quite satisfied that during the material time, a well established street dealing business of supplying heroin and cocaine in Swindon was as a result of your activities.

“You came from London, you made use of premises in Swindon and you prevailed on young people who were drug users to be your recruits.

“It was a commercial business. I am quite satisfied a large amount of drugs were being dealt on a daily basis."