Dramatic footage shows the moment a drug lord and his sidekick were arrested as they attempted to flee Nottinghamshire in a taxi.
Andrew Fitzgerald was detained on the A617 near Newark along with his trusted right-hand man, Sean Richardson, in July 2024.
Both men were attempting to flee the county after Nottinghamshire Police uncovered a significant drugs conspiracy that saw them flood communities with crack cocaine, cocaine and heroin.
As the net closed in, another member of the drugs cartel tried to dispose of two drug phones by dropping into tins of paint – but police were quick to discover them and recover vital evidence.
Fifteen people have today been sentenced for their part in the illicit enterprise, in which the organised crime group (OCG) used five distinct mobile phone lines to advertise, take orders of and sell Class A drugs in the Kirkby, Sutton and Eastwood areas of Nottinghamshire, as well as Skegness in Lincolnshire.
Nottingham Crown Court heard Corey Graham, Andrew Cox and Nathan Sharp controlled the drug lines on behalf of drug kingpin Fitzgerald and his lieutenants, and that hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of crack cocaine, cocaine and heroin were sold by the group between January 2023 and July 2024.
Some of the drugs seized by Nottinghamshire Police detectives
Through a detailed investigation, detectives discovered and seized further quantities of the Class A drugs. If sold on the streets, these drugs alone – which were a snapshot of the conspiracy – would have netted the drugs gang an estimated £125,000.
In addition to the drug seizures, more than £40,000 in cash plus high-value jewellery items were seized, indicating the proceeds of the OCG’s drug dealing enterprise.
Various weapons including an air pistol, knives and a cross bow with arrows were also discovered by officers executing warrants as part of the investigation.
The conspiracy began to unravel when police seized a mobile phone from one of the group’s suppliers, Tyrone Shand, that identified the bulk purchasing of Class A drugs. Voice notes between Shand and Miller identified Miller sourcing bulk quantities of cocaine and heroin from Shand.
Detectives identified that the OCG were involved in the supply of large volumes of drugs from designated “stash houses”, located in Bulwell and Bestwood and used this information to piece together the criminal gang.
These properties were used to store large quantities of Class A drugs, weapons and cash. From here, they’d deliver the commodities to customers in Nottinghamshire and Skegness.
Multiple warrants were executed at residential properties and detectives were able to seize a plethora of mobile phones containing damning evidence. Other defendants were also convicted after being forensically linked to evidence seized during the investigation.
Two investigations codenamed Operation Ravenclaw and Operation Drawbridge led to 15 defendants being sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court today (Wednesday 14 January).
In his sentencing remarks, Judge Stuart Rafferty KC said there could be “no doubt this was a category one conspiracy” and that he was satisfied that “at least 15kg of Class A drugs, perhaps even 20kg, were trafficked by this group”.
He said the group had shown an “utter disregard to the misery and risk of life” the conspiracy gave rise to, adding:
“It is clear that the enterprise operated daily and was busy for much of the day. There is evidence to suggest this was a 24-hour a day operation.
“Without a shadow of a doubt, it would have continued to run had it not been dismantled by the police.”
The sentencings included immediate prison terms totalling more than 70 years and were as follows:
- Andrew Fitzgerald, aged 35, of Leybourne Drive, Bestwood, Nottingham
Head of the operation who orchestrated the supply of Class A drugs. Not believed to have any involvement at a street deal level but arranged others to control the day-to-day running of the enterprise on his behalf. The investigation was able to identify his hierarchy leadership, the drug empire that he ran and the downfall of the business following the execution of police warrants at key addresses, including “stash houses”. Fitzgerald also arranged the purchasing of at least 16 kilos of heroin and cocaine for onward supply on his drug lines using a dedicated handset to purchase the bulk commodity.
Pleaded guilty to: Conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine)
Sentence: Jailed for 12 years.
- Sean Richardson, aged 34, of Green Lane, Clifton
A close and trusted associate of Andrew Fitzgerald who was responsible for the day-to-day organisation of the drug dealing enterprise. As Fitzgerald’s second hand man, his role was to ensure others had the drugs they needed each day. Caught on CCTV in Bulwell purchasing a Nokia mobile phone. Extractions of two sim cards contained within the handset found it operated drugs lines in Kirkby and Sutton and were handed to Andrew Cox by Richardson to continue operating to drug lines.
Pleaded guilty to: Conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine)
Sentence: Jailed for eight years.
- Aaron Miller, aged 35, of Vernon Road, Kirkby-in-Ashfield
Played a leading role by orchestrating and facilitating the purchasing and supply of bulk quantities of Class A drugs for onward supply to a number of drug lines. Witnessed by police leaving one of the group’s stash houses where a substantial quantity of heroin and crack cocaine were subsequently found during the execution of a warrant. Has previous drug convictions.
Pleaded guilty to: Conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine)
Sentence: Jailed for 11 years.
- Nathan Sharp, aged 34, formerly of Forest Street, Kirkby-in-Ashfield
Acted as a conduit to Miller on behalf of Fitzgerald controlling drug lines in Sutton and Kirkby. In October 2023, a warrant at his on/off address in Forest Street, Kirkby, found cocaine with a street dealing value worth up to £4,800, with officers also seizing deal bags and £3,150 in cash. Sharp then went on the run from Nottinghamshire and set up the supply of Class A drugs in Skegness where he was arrested in February 2024. Sharp was sentenced to 40-months imprisonment for drugs supply in Skegness, prosecuted by Lincolnshire Police, with Nottinghamshire Police further arresting him for further offences on 7 August 2024 for the wider drugs conspiracy.
Pleaded guilty to: Conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine)
Sentence: Jailed for eight years.
- Andrew Cox, aged 41, of Glenside, Kirkby-in-Ashfield
Trusted to hold significant amounts of heroin and crack cocaine to reload street dealers for the group. He was also entrusted to run two of the group’s many drug line phones servicing the Kirkby and Sutton areas. Following his arrest, mobile phones used to operate two drug lines were seized from his home along with large amounts of crack cocaine and heroin that was ready to be supplied to street dealers in the area. Cox tried to dispose of the drug phones by dropping into tins of paint but police were quick to discover them and recover the phones which contained key evidence. Weapons were found at his home address including an air pistol, knives and a cross bow with arrows.
Pleaded guilty to: Conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine)
Sentence: Jailed for eight years.
- Corey Graham, aged 24, of Hillington Rise, Bestwood, Nottingham
Entrusted to hold the ST drug lines operated by the group for the majority of the conspiracy period that serviced Eastwood from an address in Raymede Close, Bestwood, where he lived at the time. Upon his arrest in July 2024, he was caught red-handed with three ounces of crack cocaine, over £1,200 in cash and the ST drug line 5 phone in his pocket. Graham was also responsible for packaging heroin and crack cocaine and resupplying the group’s drug couriers for Kirkby, Sutton and Eastwood areas of Nottinghamshire. Following a warrant at his home, large quantities of Class A drugs with a street value of over £19,000 and over £20,000 in cash were seized from the address.
Pleaded guilty to: Conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine). Also sentenced for being concerned in the supply of Class A in relation to a separate case in Lincolnshire.
Sentence: Jailed for six years.
- Keenan Williams, aged 36, of Belconnen Road, Bestwood, Nottingham
Recruited to assist with preparing and storing the bulk supply of Class A drugs for the Eastwood, Sutton and Kirkby areas. He rented a flat which was used to prepare the drugs into wraps for the onward supply. After his arrest, 404g of heroin and 104g of crack cocaine was seized from the loft in his flat with a street value of over £50,000 along with nitrile gloves which contained traces of heroin. The flat was therefore believed to have been another stash address for the group.
Pleaded guilty to: Conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine)
Sentence: Jailed for 18 months, suspended for two years.
- Jaime Buxton, aged 26, of Harcourt Street, Kirkby-in-Ashfield
Acted as a courier for the group. Was required to deliver Class A drugs to re-supply drug lines by attending stash houses, collecting commodity or cash and driving to reload Sharp, Cox or the street dealers, travelling throughout Nottinghamshire between Eastwood, Kirkby, Sutton and Bestwood and regularly to Skegness when Sharp was supplying there. Her involvement was evidenced extensively in the messaging communication with other defendants.
Pleaded guilty part-way through trial to: Conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine)
Sentence: Jailed for 18 months, suspended for two years, and handed a two-year community order comprising 30 rehabilitation activity days and a nine-month drug rehabilitation requirement.
- Craig Beeson, aged 41, of Pear Tree Court, Nottingham
Acting as a courier for the group and was responsible for supplying the drugs in Sutton. He was present inside an address in Bancroft Street, Bulwell when drugs were seized in a warrant. A handset seized from him showed communication with Richardson – the OCG’s second-in-command and Miller. Beeson was also forensically linked by DNA to two containers holding large quantities of heroin and crack cocaine that were recovered by police. Messaging also showed that Beeson was used as an enforcer for the group to threaten others.
Pleaded guilty to: Conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine). Also sentenced for Section 20 GBH after admitting knocking a man unconscious by punching him in November 2024.
Sentence: Jailed for eight years and nine months.
- Stacey Beeson, aged 39, of Bancroft Street, Bulwell, Nottingham
The sister of Craig Beeson, Stacey allowed OCG members to use her home to store large amounts of Class A drugs and as a base to reload the couriers and was responsible for preparing the drugs for onward supply. On her own admission in interview, she allowed the group to do this for two years. In March 2024 a warrant was conducted at her home address, 78.2g of Heroin and 192g of cocaine were recovered with a street value of nearly £30,000.
Pleaded guilty to: Conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine)
Sentence: Jailed for 18 months, suspended for two years.
- Yvette Davis, aged 56, of Laurel Grove, Kirkby-in-Ashfield
Acted as a courier and driver for the group during from March to July 2024, moving drugs and cash from Bestwood to Kirkby, Eastwood and Sutton. In July 2024, she was stopped during one of these journeys in her vehicle on her return to Kirkby from Bestwood and found in possession of over £1,500 worth of Class A drugs in her vehicle.
Trial outcome: Found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine) following a five-week trial.
Sentence: Jailed for two years, suspended for two years, and handed a two-year community order comprising 30 rehabilitation activity days.
- Claire Lidgett, aged 41, of Glenside, Kirkby-in-Ashfield
In July, a search was conducted at her home address where she lived with her partner Andrew Cox. Officers found a handset containing the Sutton and Kirkby in Ashfield drug lines as well as drugs throughout the address, including inside a teddy bear. Her fingerprint was found on a dealer list and messages on recovered handsets in the case showed she had a knowledge the drugs operation. Less than two weeks later, police attended Lidgett and Cox’s address again where more Class A drugs and weapons were recovered as well as the Kirkby and Sutton drug line telephone secreted in a tin of paint.
Pleaded guilty to: Conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine)
Sentence: Jailed for 18 months, suspended for two years, and handed a two-year community order comprising 30 rehabilitation requirement days.
- Tyrone Shand, aged 38, of Linby Street, Bulwell, Nottingham
Described in court as a “career drug trafficker”, Shand was involved in supplying Class A drugs to Aaron Miller. A mobile phone extraction identified that in September 2023, Shand was in communication with Miller. Messages revealed Miller was contacting Shand trying to purchase kilo amounts of cocaine and heroin in September 2023. Shand was arrested in November 2023 after being witnessed by police to leave the address of Chadwyk Walton in Merchant Street, Bulwell, where drugs were found.
Pleaded guilty to: Conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (heroin and cocaine) and conspiracy to supply Class B drugs (cannabis)
Sentence: Jailed for six years and nine months.
- Chadwyck Walton, aged 31, of Merchant Street, Bulwell, Nottingham
During the Operation Drawbridge investigation, officers searched his home address and found 299.67g of cocaine with a street value of up to £28,000, 1.645kg of cannabis with a street value of up to £17,000, plus further drugs paraphernalia and 407g of phenacetin (a cutting agent). Walton tried to evade capture by climbing out of a first-floor rear window but was detained in his garden.
Pleaded guilty to: Permitting the use of a premises for supply of Class A and Class B drugs (heroin and cannabis)
Sentence: Jailed for four years and six months.
- Temika Morris, aged 29, of Merchant Street, Bulwell, Nottingham
Arrested alongside Chadwyck Walton after cocaine cannabis and drugs paraphernalia were discovered at their home address following a warrant.
Pleaded guilty to: Permitting the use of a premises for supply of Class A and Class B drugs (heroin and cannabis)
Sentence: Handed an 18-month Community Order, including a 20-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement.
Following the sentencings, Detective Constable Steven Fenyn, of Nottinghamshire Police’s Serious Organised Crime unit, said:
“This is a fantastic result to see this organised crime group behind bars.
“These were callous criminals who only cared about making vast amounts of money. They didn’t care how lethal their commodities were or the consequences for the communities and innocent people who would be irrevocably affected by this.
“They thought they were untouchable but we were able to systematically dismantle the group and show them this wasn’t the case.
“We remain absolutely determined to crack down on criminal gangs and will continue to carry out necessary observations, action and enforcement to ensure illegal drugs are taken off our streets.”
