Two men have today (March 15) been sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court for over 18 years for drug supply in south Cumbria.

Both men were convicted for conspiring to supply a controlled drug – Cocaine.

• Michael Fury, 36, of Parker Street, Barrow was sentenced to eleven years.
• Robert Collins, 38, of Dentons Green Lane, St Helens was sentenced to seven and half years.

The court heard the due were conspiring to supply £150,000-worth of the Class A drug in south Cumbria between July 2021 and March 2022.

The investigation into the group started when a vehicle was stopped belonging to Fury on 16 December 2021. When officers searched the Audi they found a block of cocaine – valued at £12,500 – under the spare wheel.

Further investigation by south Cumbria’s Community Serious and Organised Crime (CSOC) unit uncovered a sophisticated operation headed by Fury, who used contacts in the Merseyside area to procure and transport bulk amounts of cocaine, which was adulterated and delivered to customers’ doorsteps in Barrow – operated by Collins.

Following the initial arrests in December 2021, further coordinated arrests took place in February, March, and July 2022 in Cumbria and Lancashire, recovering cocaine, cutting agents, and large amounts of cash.

Evidence recovered by the investigation showed messages from Fury that he was confident he would never be caught, saying he was never on the police’s list. On one occasion he said, “I am not [bothered] about any law in this land.”

Fury and Collins elected to challenge the prosecution’s evidence, during a trial but after an hour’s deliberation a jury found them both guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine.

A spokesperson from the south Cumbria CSOC unit said: “We relentlessly target organised crime groups dealing Class A drugs in our communities.

“Many people do not realise that by purchasing cocaine they are directly funding violence and exploitation which occurred throughout the supply chains from top to bottom.

“No one is beyond our reach and if you are dealing Class A drugs in our area it will not be long before – like Fury and his associates – you find yourselves on our list.

“We welcome today’s sentence from the courts and would encourage anyone struggling with addiction to seek help from Recovery Steps or The Well.”

Do you have information that can help us?

Anyone with information can report online at www.cumbria.police.uk/report-it 

You can also phone on 101.

Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.