A TRIO of drug dealers took over the flat of a vulnerable drug user to serve as a base for peddling crack cocaine and heroin.

Police raided the bedsit off Marine Parade East, Clacton, in an early morning operation in July last year.

There they found six people, including Zac Gee, 19, Ben McGarity, 26, and Jason Hood, 39, who were acting as part of a County Lines operation running drugs into Essex.

In total, police found 11g of crack cocaine and almost 10g of heroin, with a street value of £1,250.

Also uncovered were several phones, one of which rang constantly while the officers were present.

Messages on one phone indicated marketing of drugs, including a message which read ‘The yardies are about all night as always, the 24/7 team.’

Chelmsford Crown Court heard the owner of the flat described herself as a vulnerable drug user of 20 years who suffered with mental health problems.

Ian Foinette, prosecuting, said: “She was described by the officers at the time as half asleep.

“She indicated the defendants arrived at her premises at around about 2am, and she said to police she had no idea how they got in, whether they were let in, whether they arrived in waves or altogether.

“She was concerned they were there and said in her statement she had been unable to tell them not to be there, because she was concerned about what might happen.

“She said drugs found by the police had nothing to do with her and she knew nothing about what had been going on apart from what was obviously dealing.”

Gee, of Woolacombe Way, Hayes, McGarity of Clayton Road, Dovercourt, and Hood, of Spenser Way, Jaywick, admitted two counts of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.

McGarity also admitted possession of cannabis.

The trio appeared in court on Wednesday for sentence, with Gee also dealt with for two further counts of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs following an arrest in Bracknell.

In police interview, Hood said any involvement in the County Line drug dealing operation was to get drugs for himself rather than for financial gain.

McGarity said he didn’t know what a drugs line was and initially denied knowledge of the operation.

Gee told police he was a user and denied any part in a County Lines operation.

Shade Abiodun, mitigating for Hood, said her client’s life spiralled out of control following a previous conviction in 2017.

She added: “It wasn’t his operation, his only involvement was as a runner, and Three men are sentenced to total of 11 years behind bars he was doing so to feed his own drug habit.”

Gavin Burrell, for Gee, described his client as a young man with a talent for football, who had been lured into the drugs world before being threatened into dealing over unpaid debt.

Barry Gilbert, for McGarity, said: “Since he’s been on remand he’s been off drugs.

“What your honour is dealing with is people really at the bottom of the barrel, punting out small amounts of drugs for their own benefit.”

Judge Simon Mayo QC handed down sentences totalling almost 11 and a half years.

He said: “It was entirely clear from the evidence police found at that address that the three of you were each engaged in the supply of drugs from that address.

"It was a convenient base from which to interface with those that were interested in purchasing drugs from you.”

Gee was sentenced to four years imprisonment, while McGarity and Hood each received prison terms of three years and eight months.

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