Final member of drugs gang sentenced at York Crown Court

The boss of the gang Gerrard Parkins, 27, got £23,000 in profits from the operation and is among seven gang member now behind bars.

The final person to be sentenced, Anthony Wright, 32, was given a suspended prison sentence after the Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris, heard about the major medical problems of his family, including the disabilities of his long-term partner and the need for him to care for their children.

“If you were just on your own, you wouldn’t be walking out of court,” he told Wright. “I am required to look at the impact of custody on others. People would be unjustly impacted.”

Drug gang member Anthony Wright (Image: North Yorkshire Police)

The judge heard that Wright was responsible for collecting money raised through drug sales, holding it in safe keeping and depositing it in banks.

Wright, of Guelph Street, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to conspiracies to supply heroin and cocaine and having £765 in criminal cash.

He was given a two-year prison sentence suspended for 18 months on condition he does 300 hours’ unpaid work, the maximum possible, and 15 days’ rehabilitative activities. As well as the reduction for his family situation, the sentence was reduced because of the time taken to bring Wright to justice – he was arrested in 2019 – and his guilty plea.

Drugs gang boss Gerrard Parkins (Image: North Yorkshire Police)

Fellow Liverpudlian Parkins, of no fixed address, is now serving more than 10 years in jail. He was given a sentence of two years and seven months in March for his North Yorkshire offences, to be served after he finishes seven years and six months imposed for drug dealing offences elsewhere in the country.

Last November, Timothy Jacobs, prosecuting, told York Crown Court how the gang ran two drug pipelines, moving heroin and cocaine from Liverpool to York and Scarborough where it was sold by local drug dealers.

He was speaking at the sentencing of most of the gang, six of whom were jailed. Parkins refused to come out of the cell where he was on remand and Wright’s sentencing was delayed because he was too ill to attend court.

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Graham Parkins, defence solicitor advocate for Wright, said Wright’s partner’s mental health deteriorated after she had a stroke leading to him being short of money. The court heard Wright fell in with drug dealer Gerrard Parkins who took him on holiday. That led to him becoming involved in the drug dealing, said Mr Parkins.

After he was arrested in Scarborough with £765 drug money on him, others in the drug underworld threatened him unless he paid them the cash police had confiscated. That led to him producing cannabis, an offence for which he received a suspended prison sentence in 2021. He had stayed away from the drug scene since then, the court heard.