PREVIEW

WORDS BYLINE: Eloise Gilmore
Fifteen people have been sentenced for their roles in a drugs cartel, with dramatic footage showing the moment a drug lord was arrested.
Kingpin Andrew Fitzgerald was detained on the A617 near Newark, Nottinghamshire, along with his trusted right-hand man, Sean Richardson, in July 2024.
Both men were attempting to flee the county in a taxi, after Nottinghamshire Police uncovered their large-scale drugs enterprise.
Fifteen members of the cartel were sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Wednesday (JAN 14) for their roles in the organised crime group, which sold the Class A drugs in the Kirkby, Sutton, and Eastwood areas of Nottinghamshire, as well as Skegness in Lincolnshire, from “stash houses” in Bulwell and Bestwood.
Hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of crack cocaine, cocaine and heroin were sold by the group between January 2023 and July 2024.
A further £125,000 in unsold drugs were discovered by police — who ran two investigations into the cartel, codenamed Operation Ravenclaw and Operation Drawbridge — alongside more than £40,000 in cash, high-value jewellery, and various weapons including an air pistol, knives and a cross bow with arrows.
The conspiracy was uncovered when police seized a mobile phone from one of the group’s suppliers that identified the bulk purchasing of Class A drugs. Voice notes and other forensic evidence led to the further convictions.
In his sentencing remarks, Judge Stuart Rafferty KC 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.
Kingpin Andrew Fitzgerald, 35, of Leybourne Drive, Bestwood, was jailed for 12 years for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. His close associate Sean Richardson, 34, of Green Lane, Clifton, was jailed for eight years for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
Also sentenced for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs were:
•Aaron Miller, 35, of Vernon Road, Kirkby-in-Ashfield — jailed for 11 years.
•Nathan Sharp, 34, formerly of Forest Street, Kirkby-in-Ashfield — jailed for eight years.
•Andrew Cox, 41, of Glenside, Kirkby-in-Ashfield — jailed for eight years.
•Corey Graham, 24, of Hillington Rise, Bestwood — jailed for six years.
•Keenan Williams, 36, of Belconnen Road, Bestwood — jailed for 18 months, suspended for two years.
•Jaime Buxton, 26, of Harcourt Street, Kirkby-in-Ashfield — 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, 41, of Pear Tree Court, Nottingham — also sentenced for Section 20 GBH after admitting knocking a man unconscious by punching him in November 2024, jailed for eight years and nine months.
•Stacey Beeson, 39, of Bancroft Street, Bulwell — jailed for 18 months, suspended for two years.
•Yvette Davis, 56, of Laurel Grove, Kirkby-in-Ashfield — jailed for two years, suspended for two years, and handed a two-year community order comprising 30 rehabilitation activity days.
•Claire Lidgett, 41, of Glenside, Kirkby-in-Ashfield — jailed for 18 months, suspended for two years, and handed a two-year community order comprising 30 rehabilitation requirement days.
Sentenced for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and conspiracy to supply Class B drugs were:
•Tyrone Shand, 38, of Linby Street, Bulwell — jailed for six years and nine months.
• Chadwyck Walton, 31, of Merchant Street, Bulwell — jailed for four years and six months.
Sentenced for permitting the use of a premises for supply of Class A and Class B drugs was:
• Temika Morris, 29, of Merchant Street, Bulwell — handed an 18-month Community Order, including a 20-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement.