CROOKS who ran a drug-dealing operation which exploited children “humiliated” and burgled a vulnerable addict after he got cold feet about helping the gang peddle class A drugs.

Lukman Jama, 21, and Elias Siamino, 19, ran a “county line” operation from London which saw hard drugs sold in Colchester.

Ipswich Crown Court heard in order to do so, they employed children to “do the selling” and relied upon a vulnerable addict to transport both drugs and the salesmen.

When the addict, who agreed to help the operation in return for drugs, wanted to stop his involvement, Jama and Siamino paid him a visit.

Recorder Jeremy Benson QC said: “The two of you, with two others, in the early hours of the morning came up to Colchester and one of you, pretending to be a police officer, persuaded [the victim] to open the door to his flat.”

The court heard the victim was assaulted and when he tried to escape, Jama held a kitchen knife to his throat and took him back into the flat.

Mr Benson said: “He had bruises all over his body.

“He was then humiliated by you and told to undress and get in the shower, which he did.

“The two of you left the premises with £150, a bank card, a TV and the keys to his car. The car was never seen again.”

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Jama and Siamino were convicted of two counts of conspiracy to supply a class A drug and aggravated burglary after a trial. Jama was also convicted of theft.

Karina Arden, mitigating, for Siamino, said her client was just 18- years-old at the time of the offences and had played a lesser role.

She said Siamino had “learned from his mistakes”, with his time in custody proving to be a “tremendous shock”.

“It has made him realise this is not the life for him at all,” she said.

James McCrindle, mitigating for Jama, said his client was a “bright” young man who had achieved seven GCSEs and had been set to commence a degree in business studies and finance at Essex University.

“His references speak of a very different young man who can very much apply himself to his studies,” he said.

Jama, from London, was sentenced to six years imprisonment, while Siamino, of Boddington Gardens, London, was sentenced to three and a half years detention in a Young Offenders’ Institution.

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