Two Doncaster men jailed for transporting £53k package of cocaine into the town

Sheffield Crown Court was told how just after 7.15pm on June 23 this year, patrolling police officers stopped a black Astra vehicle that was travelling near to junction 37 of the A1 in Doncaster containing defendants Aaron Cameron and Christopher Peat, who was driving the vehicle.

Prosecuting, Ben Thomas, told the court that officers were acting on intelligence when they stopped the vehicle, and during a search of it they found a black Paris Saint-Germain bag, that contained a 1kg package of cocaine wrapped inside an Asda carrier bag.

Mr Thomas said that police testing found the cocaine to be of 94 per cent purity, which is much higher than the level of purity often found in the Class A drug, which normally range between 45 and 68 per cent purity.

"In the opinion of DC Grey, that amount of cocaine with that level of purity would have a street value of £53,000," he said.

Mr Thomas told the court that when interviewed by the police, Cameron, aged 24, said he had received a call asking him to collect a package in Leeds and was told to bring it to Doncaster and that he would receive a sum of £100 for collecting it.

Cameron said he knew the package contained drugs, but did not know what kind, and did not look inside the package after he collected it, the court heard.

Peat, 25, admitted to driving the vehicle, but said he also had not looked inside the package.

Both men said their role in the operation only extended as far as transporting the package of class A drugs from Leeds to Doncaster.

Defending Peat, Pamela Coxon, said Peat was someone with a 'good heart' who was easily influenced by those around him.

She said: "He received a text message, but he never would have gone if he had been at the gym. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Richard Hague, defending Cameron, said he was someone who was about to go from relative obscuity in terms of the criminal justice system, to someone who was facing a custodial sentence.

He said: "His family know nothing of the criminal justice system, and all this has been a cataclysmic shock. But he's done what he's done and he acknowledges, though the [pre-sentence] report that he has to take the punishment."

Both defendants admitted to possession with intent to supply cocaine at an earlier hearing, and Peat also pleaded guilty to the additional charge of driving without insurance.

Judge Robert Moore sentenced Peat, who was found to have a lesser role in the enterprise, to four years in prison and sentenced Cameron to six years.

He told the pair: "Christopher Peat and Aaron Cameron - you two allowed yourself to be brought into a Class A drugs operation for the sake of £50 each.

"Your families will no doubt reflect on the stupidity of this for several years to come."