Drug dealer jailed for eight years
Last updated 10:31, Friday, 03 October 2008
page 12file pic of Gary Rockerby (used N&S Satdy)A WORKINGTON man has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years after being caught with cocaine with a street value of more than £40,000.
It is the third time that Gary Rickerby, 35, of Bolton Street, has been jailed for dealing in Class A drugs and he received the especially long sentence under the ‘three strikes and you’re out’ laws designed to clamp down on drug suppliers.
Rickerby, who was described in court as a long-term drug user, was expecting an even stiffer sentence.
When police arrested him after spotting him behaving suspiciously near his car in Workington, he told them: “I’ll get 10 years for this.”
At Carlisle Crown Court on Friday he pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine, a Class A drug, with intent to supply.
Jeremy Grout-Smith, prosecuting, said it was thought Rickerby would have paid up to £32,000 for the kilo of cocaine found in two black binbags.
He would have made a £10,000 profit if he had been able to sell it, he said.
Judge Peter Hughes QC said it was clear that Rickerby played an important part in the drugs scene in West Cumbria.
“Not only are you supplying drugs in and around Workington, but you have contact with wholesalers outside the area to obtain the drugs in large quantities,” he said.
