A BARROW man who raped two 15-year-old girls has been jailed for more than two decades for his role in a crime gang that sold drugs across the north west.

Mark Anderson was second in command in the organised crime group which recruited young men to sell class A drugs in Barrow and beyond.

The 30-year-old was jailed for 21 years and seven months in total for a string of offences that included two rapes, abstracting electricity and conspiracy to supply drugs including cocaine, heroin, ketamine and cannabis.

He was part of a gang of six that included ringleader Ben Thompson, of Ash Grove in Preston, who sold substances and exploited vulnerable young girls by offering them drugs and alcohol.

Preston Crown Court was told former Bay View Grove resident Anderson was arrested by Lancashire Police in March 2019 after the gang’s operation was tracked by officers.

When police made arrests they seized 128 grams of MDMA, 435 grams of ketamine, 47 grams of cocaine, 15 grams of heroin and 500 grams of cannabis.

Police carried out a series of dawn raids at addresses in Preston, Penwortham and Longridge.

The gang’s catalogue of crimes were committed between June 1 and December 1 2018.

The judge was told they had conspired together over a 12 month period to supply Class A drugs, namely cocaine, heroin and MDMA, and Class B drugs, ketamine and cannabis to the drug users of Preston, Blackpool, Barrow and other towns in the north west.

The court heard Thompson and Anderson gave young girls ketamine and sexually abused them.

One of the 15-year-old victims was raped by both men.

The pair were also said to have used cloned vehicles and disguises to commit a string of thefts and burglaries in rural areas of Preston and in Leyland.

Four other men were involved in drug dealing at a street level, growing cannabis and driving the pair around.

These were Joseph Duerdon, 20, Mill Court, Longridge; Thomas Worgan, 26, Walton Avenue, Penwortham; Alex Macneil, 18, of The Green, Preston; and Jordan Byrne, 19, of Raglan Street, Preston.

In sentencing the pair, Judge Andrew Jefferies QC ordered Thompson and Anderson to be subject to the Sex Offender’s Register and barring requirements for life.

Judge Jefferies also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of phones, drugs and paraphernalia, cash and a stun gun.

He also made deprivation orders for a Vauxhall Zafira, Ford Maverick and two vans.

The case, dubbed Operation Tigris, has been subject to reporting restrictions until now.

When the gang was arrested Chief Inspector Steve Holgate, of Lancashire Police, said: “These arrests are part of a complex and on-going investigation.

"They demonstrate our commitment to tackling organised criminality and those who prey on the vulnerable in our communities.”