A MAN has been jailed for his part in a county lines drug network that stretched from Birmingham into Hereford.

The so-called PJ Line supplied heroin and crack cocaine to drug users in Hereford.

Shuayb Ali, 21, travelled from his base in Birmingham to Hereford to supply drugs on the streets on several different occasions.

He was jailed for two years and three months after admitting to being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine in Hereford.

Ali was arrested at his address in Davey Road, Birmingham, in November last year.

At the sentencing hearing at Worcester Crown Court on January 26, Judge Nicholas Cartwright said that he also needed to consider the presence of a zombie knife possessed by Ali's accomplice. However, this resulted in a not-guilty verdict as it was found that Ali had no knowledge of the knife.

ALSO READ:

The judge added that Ali was addicted to crack cocaine and had been the subject of violence and intimidation by other drug dealers. This led to his decision that Ali had played a "lesser role" in the offence, rather than a "significant role".

He considered suspending the prison sentence but said he couldn't justify this due to the severity of the offence.

Judge Cartwright ordered for the drugs, county lines telephones and cash recovered by police to be destroyed, along with the zombie knife.