Winsford trio sentenced for county lines drug dealing

Two men and a woman from Winsford have been sentenced after they admitted being part of county lines drugs gang operating in the town.

Iain Alexander, Helen Reynolds and Josh Shaw all appeared at Chester Crown Court on Tuesday 26th August where they were sentenced to a total of 12 years and three months in prison.

Alexander, 34, of Robinson Lane, Winsford, was sentenced to seven years, while Reynolds, 44, of Ledward Street, Winsford, was jailed for five years and three months and Shaw, 20, of Bedford Rise, Winsford was handed a  three year community order and a four month curfew.

As part of the curfew Shaw is required to remain at his home on Bedford Rise between 8pm and 5am daily, until 25th December 2025. 

All three had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (crack cocaine and heroin) and Conspiracy to Supply Class B drugs (amphetamine).

The case initially began in July 2024 when officers from Northwich Proactive CID received intelligence from Merseyside Police in relation to a mobile phone number that was being used as a graft phone by a county lines team.

 The number had been used to send flare messages advertising the sale of crack cocaine and heroin in the Winsford area, during the investigation into this a second mobile phone number was identified that was also being used to advertise the sale of crack cocaine and heroin for the same county line.

Officers discovered that the graft phones had been in regular contact with mobile phones registered to Reynolds and Shaw. 

Following enquiries, at 11.35am on Friday 8th November, officers attended a storage facility on New Road, Winsford. On arrival, a grey Vauxhall Astra registered to Reynolds was parked next to the one of the storage units with the container door was also open. 

Moments later, Reynolds walked out of the unit carrying a bag containing individual wraps of heroin and cocaine. 

She was immediately arrested, and a search was undertaken on the unit resulting in the recovery of approximately £42,000 of class A drugs (crack cocaine and heroin).

Keys to a further storage unit were located and this was searched and £1,240 worth of crack cocaine and heroin, and a large amount amphetamine was located.

While officers were dealing with the incident, they became aware that Alexander was a short distance away outside the old Liquid Lounge bar on Church Street.

He was also arrested, and when searched he was found in possession of nine wraps of brown powder along with more than £300 cash. Officers also recovered a mobile phone which he had attempted to discard at the scene.

Following questioning, the pair were both charged with two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs (crack cocaine and heroin).

On Wednesday 4th December Shaw was arrested at his home address for his involvement in the county line. He was also charged with two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs (crack cocaine and heroin) and conspiracy to supply class B drugs (amphetamine).

Following the sentencing Detective Constable Lara Hill, of Northwich Proactive CID, said:

“This case is a great example of partnership work between forces.

“Once we received the intelligence that the mobile phone was being used as part of county lines criminal activity, we were able to identify Reynolds, Alexander and Shaw as being involved.

“Following our subsequent investigation, we were able to prove that all three were involved in drug dealing in the Winsford area, and they are now being held accountable for their actions.”

If you believe drug activity is occurring in your community, please report it via our website or by calling 101.