A pair of dopey drug dealers are behind bars after they were caught proudly posing for pictures – with piles of CANNABIS and wads of CASH.
Eugene May-Dyer, 24, and Russell Turner, 18, were snapped grinning on camera crouching over a huge stash of marijuana on their living room floor.
Turner was also captured in another image found by police with wads of drugs money stuffed into the waistband of his trousers.
Alongside pals Ian Cunningham, 24, and Grant Barnhurst, 21, the gang sold cannabis across Birmingham.
But they were caught after police executed a series of raids at their homes and found the incriminating evidence on their mobile phones boasting of their drug dealing antics.
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A court heard their phones also contained thousands of text conversations openly discussing drugs supply which had been sent between the group.
On Wednesday they were jailed for a total of three-and-a-half years at Birmingham Crown Court.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Bannister, from West Midlands Police, said after the case: “These are young men who’d formed a fledgling gang that was on the up we managed to intercept them at an early stage before their criminality could escalate and potentially cause more damage in the Kings Norton community.
“As a police force we are committed to a policy of drugs prevention through education and diversion – especially where young people are concerned – but we will not hesitate to push for custodial sentences if necessary.
“Our communities repeatedly tell us that taking action against drug dealing in communities is a priority for them and urge us to take action; no-one should have to put up with that on their doorstep.
“That’s what we’ve done and four young men who cockily posed for photos boasting of their drug dealing are now paying the price.”
The court heard their cannabis den was uncovered on November 10, 2012 when officers stopped a car being driven away from Turner’s home address and found a quantity of drugs in the car.
A subsequent search of a shed in Turner’s garden – described as a chill-out summerhouse complete with TV – uncovered 1.3kg of cannabis with a street value of around #1,400.
Fingerprints belonging to May-Dyer and Cunningham were found on the drugs bags while a BlackBerry phone contained over 60,000 messages, many linking the men to drug dealing.
CCTV seized from Turner’s home showed the four men hanging out in their chill out summerhouse in the days before police arrived.
All four were arrested on the evening of 15 February last year during simultaneous drugs raids on 10 separate addresses across Kings Norton.
At Cunningham’s flat officers seized almost £1,000 worth of cannabis, dealer bags and digital scales.
All four, from Kings Norton, admitted conspiracy to supply Class B drugs at Birmingham Magistrates Court on December 11 last year.
On Wednesday Turner, a labourer, was jailed for 13 months – including an additional month for breaching an earlier suspended sentence – while May-Dyer was caged for a year.
Cunningham, a refuge worker, and Barnhurst, who is unemployed, were both handed nine-month prison sentences.
Inspector Vanessa Eyles, Neighbourhood Policing Manager for West Midlands Police, added: “The impact these individuals had while dealing and supplying drugs locally was negative and destructive.
“Their criminal activity caused anti-social behaviour and crime everywhere they dealt; my officers worked closely with the Gangs Task Force to ensure the right people were targeted.
“This result illustrates that we respond to information provided by the community – and I’d urge anyone who suspects drug dealing or associated criminality is going on in their area to contact us on the 101 number so we can take action.”
