Saturday 12 September 2009

Singer Charlotte Church's Ex Caged For 12 Years.



Singer Charlotte Church's ex boyfriend – caught after police seized nearly £10m worth of heroin in one of London’s largest drug busts last year – was jailed for 12 years on Thursday.

Barber Kyle Johnson, 24, of Cowbridge Road West, Cardiff, pleaded guilty at North London’s Wood Green Crown Court to possessing 149.35 kilos of heroin, with intent to supply.

He dated the Welsh songstress, dubbed 'Voice of an Angel', for eighteen months in 2003 and 2004.

Johnson (pictured with Charlotte) went on the run following a raid by the Metropolitan Police’s Central Task Force on a rented three-bedroom house in Meath Road, Forrest Gate, East London on December 4, last year.

Detectives knew he was effectively the warehouseman responsibly for looking after the drugs and Johnson surrendered himself on June 30 after a media appeal.

Two week earlier Calvin Markall, 20, of Menai Way, Rumney, Cardiff, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, after pleading guilty to supplying large amounts of heroin in London before the police raid.

Inside the house – located in an ordinary street - officers found four brown cardboard boxes stacked on top of a single bed in one of the side room.

Split between the boxes were 597 envelopes stashed with a total of 149.35 kilos of heroin.

The drugs were high grade, with 60-65% purity and were packaged ready for distribution.

The total street valued was £9,956,000.

DI Colin Stephenson, from the Met's Central Task Force East, said:” This was one of the most significant drugs seizures by the Met last year, and has seriously disrupted a major criminal network planning to flood London with heroin over the Christmas period.

"The fact that Johnson handed himself in and pleaded guilty demonstrates the thoroughness of the investigation we conducted and the overwhelming evidence we obtained.

"Today's sentencing is yet another blow to those who attempt to supply drugs in London."

Markall was arrested in the street after undercover surveillance officers observed him leaving and locking the property with a set of house keys. 

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