Man jailed for drugs offences following house search in Leek

A 33-year-old man has been jailed for 40 months for drugs offences following a search of a house in the town.

Ian Gough, formerly of London Street, was sentenced at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

The court heard that officers entered Gough’s then address on Friday 26 January 2018, and found Gough and a woman called Stacy Compton inside.

Compton fled the property with a rucksack, but was quickly stopped and detained by an officer. Inside the rucksack there were two bags containing 40 grams of cannabis and a small amount of cash.

During a search of the property, cocaine and a number of mobile phones were also seized, which showed evidence of selling drugs.

Both were arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of controlled drugs.

They pleaded guilty and were sentenced on Friday 17 January 2020.

Compton, aged 30, of Prince Charles Avenue, Leek, received a nine month suspended sentence and was ordered to pay costs.

Gough is already serving a 19 month sentence for an unrelated matter and received a further 40 months to run consecutively.

Sergeant Rob Peacock, said “Following the arrests, we secured a closure order on the London Street property, which had been subject to a number of incidents involving anti-social behaviour and drugs, and had been making life miserable for local residents for months.

“Those that deal and supply drugs blight communities, and we are pleased that we were able to stop these drugs reaching the streets.”

“Throughout the Staffordshire Moorlands we will continue to target drug-dealers and bring them before the courts. We hope this goes some way to reassure the local community that we are committed to tackling this issue.”

If you suspect drug dealing in your community please call Staffordshire Police on 101 or the independent crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or through their Anonymous Online Form at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.