DETECTIVES have welcomed the lengthy jail sentences handed to three men found guilty of conspiring to supply cocaine with a street value of £200,000. 

At Bristol Crown Court this morning, Judge Michael Longman sentenced Mawire to eight-and-a-half years, Pinehurst resident Mulholland to eight-and-a-half years and London-based rapper Nahkell Gordon to nine years.

Welcoming the sentence, Det Insp Mark Wilkinson of the serious crime department at Wiltshire Police, said: “This sentence shows the severity of the offences and how anybody involved in that level of criminality can expect a significant prison term.

“A kilogramme of cocaine at 98 per cent proof would have presented a real problem to Swindon. For us to have dealt with it so quickly I have no doubt that, at that time, it affected the cocaine market in the town.

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“Gordon is already serving a lengthy prison sentence for firearms offences. To now have a significant term of imprisonment passed for these drugs offences just shows what a dangerous individual he is.”

Rapper Nahkell Gordon had boasted about the production and sale of crack cocaine in his song lyrics, also claiming to have dropped thousands of pounds on the luxury watches.

“There is absolutely nothing glamourous about it,” Det Insp Wilkinson said of the lifestyle of a drug dealer.

“These rappers will try and portray it as a glamourous lifestyle, but the reality is that if you decide to run that music career alongside criminal activity there’s only going to be one out come. That’s prison and a criminal record – a burden that you will carry for the rest of your life.”

Finally, he said the group had come under investigation following concerns reported by members of the public: “I would ask people to continue to call the police if they have got any concerns about drug dealing. We will assess the information and, as you can see in this case, we will investigate it.”