Exeter addict jailed for breaking drug rehab order
A drug addict who let his home be used as a crack dealing den has been jailed for breaking a rehabilitation order.
Derek Brett, 32, of Prince Charles Road, Exeter, allowed two London-based dealers to set up in his flat because he owed them £900 for heroin.
Last July he admitted being concerned in the supply of the drugs and was given a community sentence which included a drugs rehabilitation order.
He was taken to Exeter Crown Court for re-sentence after going back on drugs.
Judge Graham Cottle told Brett his first sentence had been "extremely lenient" and he had rejected the chance he had been given.
Addiction 'no mitigation'
The court was told Brett was a "minor player" in a major drug ring which transported £230,000 of heroin and crack cocaine from London to Devon.
The drugs ring was uncovered when Devon and Cornwall Police stopped ringleader Danielle Woodford for using a mobile phone while driving in Exeter.
Officers found drugs in her hire car and more were found in the Exeter motel room she was sharing with boyfriend Sean Wedderburn.
Mobile phone checks showed the couple had made more than 30 trips to Devon within a four-month period.
Described in court as the "main players", Woodford and Wedderburn, both aged 22 and from Purley, Surrey, were each jailed for nearly seven years after they pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine.
Two other Exeter men were sentenced in connection with the drugs ring.
Andrew Wills, 29, of Parkland Drive was jailed for 30 months for being concerned in the supply of cocaine and heroin.
Paul Hirst, 32, of Smythen Street, who admitted supplying small quantities of heroin, received an 18-month community order.
For his role, Brett was sentenced to an 18-month community order, which included the drugs rehabilitation requirement.
Mr Nick Bradley, defending Brett, said his client had been complying with his order until he was "driven" out of his home by former associates who suspected him of helping the police because of his light sentence.
Jailing him for four years, Judge Graham Cottle told Brett his addiction was no mitigation for allowing his flat to be used to distribute heroin and crack cocaine around Exeter.
"That distribution was in very significant quantities... and anyone who involves themselves in activity of this sort must expect a substantial custodial sentence," the judge added.