Yorkshire drugs gang jailed: The faces of seven men and women in Yorkshire drug gang jailed for 42 years

The violence linked to rival urban street gangs involved in the ‘ring and bring’ drugs trade saw horrific injuries being caused to young teenage boys in spates of incidents across the city.

In May and March last year, specialist detectives from Leeds District Programme Precision Team, which targets serious and organised crime, mounted two arrest phases that were the culmination of a year-long investigation, supported by officers from the Yorkshire & Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit, knife crime initiative Operation Jemlock, Protective Services (Operations) and district officers from across West Yorkshire.

The majority of those arrested during the most recent operation were charged with offences, predominantly related to the supply of Class A drugs.

Among them was Marcus Thomas, from Gipton, who was identified as the ringleader of a group involved in dealing heroin and crack cocaine.

Detectives used a range of tactics to build up a clear evidential picture of Thomas’s involvement in the illicit trade along with his links to his ‘lieutenants’.

Thomas was charged in relation to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs between May 1 and October 1, 2020, along with John Burgon, Michael Sharlotte, and Thomas's sister Amie.

Marcus Thomas and Burgon were also charged along with five others with two counts of conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine between November 25, 2021 and April 25, 2022.

When officers executed a search warrant at co-conspirator Francis Harvey’s address in Torre Hill, Burmantofts, they found 5kg of heroin with an estimated street value of £500,000.

Those involved in the conspiracies were also charged with various other individual supply or possession with intent to supply offences.

Their sentences are captioned on each mugshot below: