Cambridge Crown Court has heard how a 50-year-old drug dealer from Chatteris was "pivotal" in the supply of spice throughout the county.

Alan Desmond was sentenced to a total of three years and four months in prison at Cambridge Crown Court today (Friday, June 10) after admitting to multiple drugs charges.

Detective Constable Suzanne Pickard, who investigated on behalf of Cambridgeshire Constabulary, said she hopes the sentence will "send a message" that dangerous drug dealing will not be tolerated.

%image(15705021, type="article-full", alt="Alan Desmond was sentenced to three years and four months in prison after admitting to a string of drug and driving offences at Cambridge Crown Court")

Desmond's dealings were uncovered on July 20, 2020, when he was stopped while driving in Huntingdon.

Police officers found more than £43,000 of "spice" - synthetic cannabinoids - in the back of his Volkswagen EOS.

The class B drug is more dangerous than ordinary cannabis because its unregulated production in laboratories can produce unpredictable side-effects, according to the NHS.

Desmond was arrested and his home in Chapel Road, Chatteris, was searched.

Officers uncovered £550 of cocaine, £380 of heroin, a small amount of ketamine, various cutting agents, other drugs paraphernalia and burner-style phones.

He was released under investigation, but was arrested again on October 26 last year when he was involved in a serious crash on the A142.

%image(15705022, type="article-full", alt="Cocaine, taken in evidence to secure a charge for the 50-year-old drug dealer from Chatteris, who was found with drugs in Huntingdon and Warboys")

Desmond was driving a white BMW M4 at the time of the serious crash, which he abandoned at an associate's home.

He was found to have lied to police about the crash, and was arrested again less than a week later on November 2 when he was pulled over driving a Ford Focus in Warboys.

The drug dealer had his son in the passenger seat, and a search revealed he was carrying around 250g of cocaine in his jacket, as well as a bundle of cash.

According to police, Desmond asked officers: "You’ve got me, I’ve just done my pick-up – you win some, you lose some.

"Was you expecting to find that much?"

%image(15705023, type="article-full", alt="Bags full of synthetic cannabis ("spice") seized by police during the investigation into 50-year-old Alan Desmond of Chapel Road, Chatteris")

He admitted to: possession with intent to supply a class A drug (cocaine); possession with intent to supply a class B drug (spice); two counts of possession of a class A drug (cocaine and heroin); possession of a class B drug (ketamine); dangerous driving; failing to stop when required to do so by police; and perverting the course of justice by making a false report of robbery.

Alongside his prison sentence, he is disqualified from driving for two years and eight months.

The court has not yet decided how to deal with the assets which Desmond acquired through crime.

DC Pickard said: "Desmond played a pivotal role in the supply of drugs in the Chatteris area over a prolonged period of time and his conviction should send a message to him and others that it will not be tolerated."