POLICE have welcomed the sentence given to a county lines drug dealer.
Zach Parry has been jailed for 27 months after admitting to dealing cocaine and crack in Northwich on behalf of a Merseyside-based gang.
The 26-year-old handed himself into police last November but refused to reveal the location of a phone he had been using to sell the class A drugs.
Despite his refusal, police were able to charge Parry thanks to messages uncovered by their investigations.
Following his sentencing on Wednesday (September 18), Detective Sergeant John Lyons, of Northwich Proactive CID, said: “Parry thought that by refusing to tell officers where his phone was, we would not be able to prove that he was the person dealing the drugs.
“However, the messages we were able to recover were damning, and left him with no option but to plead guilty to the charges against him.
“His conviction is testament to determination of all the officers involved in the investigation, helping to ensure that he was held accountable for his actions.
“The sentence handed to Parry is very much welcomed following the conclusion of the investigation, and I hope that it will serve as a strong warning to other individuals who intend to supply illegal substances into the communities of Cheshire.”
READ MORE: County lines dealer sold class A drugs to feed his own addiction
Police acquired a production order which allowed them to investigate two devices believed to be involved in the supply of drugs in Northwich between June and July 2023.
Messages on the phones, previous incidents and records from the Department of Work and Pensions showed that Parry was using one of the devices at the time it was being used to sell illegal drugs.
Aware that police were looking to speak with him, Parry handed himself into Northwich Police Station on November 3.
However, he didn’t bring the phone with him and refused to say where it was.
Max Saffman, defending, told the court: “No doubt, he was at the lowest ebb of his life.
“Drug addiction had taken over his life and had got completely out of control.”
Recorder Jeremy Lasker sentenced Parry, of Cromwell Road in Northwich, to 27 months.
He will have to serve up to half of this before being released on licence.
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