Stafford man who went on the run jailed for 5 years

A Stafford man who went on the run after failing to attend court has been jailed for five years.

John Osborne, aged 47, was sentenced to a total of five years and seven months for two counts of possession with intent to supply class-A drugs and a further three months for breaching bail.

 

The court heard that Osborne was in a friend’s silver Ford Ka when it was stopped on the Wolverhampton Road in Stafford on 22 August 2017.

 

As officers approached the car they saw drugs paraphernalia and witnessed Osborne, of Eastgate Street, Stafford, put a can of super strength lager onto the floor inside.

 

A package suspected to be heroin was found during a search and later testing confirmed it was 3.5 grams of heroin.

 

Officers then carried out a search at Osborne’s then home address in Brook Glen Road, Rising Brook, and seized a number of mobile phones.

 

On 14 December 2017 officers attended the same address in an unrelated matter. John Osborne was at the address where there was a quantity of heroin on a table being arranged into individual deals.

 

Osborne failed to appear for court, but was arrested by officers from Stafford Neighbourhood Policing Team after intelligence work led them to an address in Heath Town, Wolverhampton, on 14 December 2019.

 

Sergeant Tom Fotherby, of Stafford Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “This case is proof that offenders can go on the run or fail to attend court but we will catch up with them.

 

“It took two years for John Osborne to be sentenced but persistence means he is now serving time and demonstrates we will continue to target those who deal drugs and spread misery in our communities.”

 

Osborne, who pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing, was jailed on 10 January at Stafford Crown Court.