Rugeley man jailed for 50 months over drugs offences

A Rugeley man has been jailed for more than four years after pleading guilty to drugs offences at Stafford Crown Court on Monday (24 May).

Paul Hough, aged 41, of Queen Street, pleaded guilty to various charges and was sentenced to 50 months’ imprisonment.

The charges relate to two separate incidents – one in November 2019 and a second in October last year.

At about 11.50am on 28 November 2019, a silver Vauxhall Astra was stopped in the car park of Aldi on Market Street in Rugeley. Hough was found to have drugs inside the car. A search of his home address uncovered a holdall full of cocaine, cannabis, scales and other paraphernalia used in the supply of drugs. The value of the drugs was thought to be around £5,000 while around £2,000 in cash was also seized.

And at about 12pm on 13 October 2020, a blue Ford Fiesta was stopped just off Forge Road in Rugeley. Hough was a front seat passenger in the vehicle. When searched, Hough was found to have a small amount of cocaine, cash and a mobile phone on him. Another search of Hough’s home address following the incident uncovered approximately £1,000 worth of cocaine, £1,000 worh of cannabis, £1,000 in cash, scales and more drugs paraphernalia used in the supply of drugs.

For the November 2019 incident, Hough was sentenced to 30 months for possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of Class A – cocaine and two months for possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of Class B – cannabis, to run concurrently.

For the October 2020 incident, Hough was sentenced to 20 months for possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of Class A – cocaine to run consecutively, and two months for possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of Class B – cannabis, to run concurrently.

On top of this, Hough was also sentenced to 20 months for being concerned in the supply of cocaine and two months for being concerned in the supply of cannabis – both to run concurrently with the above.

DS Jon Bradbury from Staffordshire Police’s Disruption Team South said: “We are delighted with the sentencing of Hough for his involvement in the supply of drugs in Staffordshire. We hope this serves as a warning to anyone else currently involved in similar activities, or perhaps thinking of becoming so.

“We will continue to pro-actively seek out and disrupt all drugs activity on the streets of Staffordshire in our attempts to make the communities we serve a better place to live.”