Man jailed after Leiston crash left two elderly people injured and uncovered drug operation
It revealed a cocaine and cannabis supply network.
A 22-year-old man has been jailed after a car crash near Leiston left two elderly people injured and exposed drug supply operations.
Noah Conway, from Saxmundham, was sentenced to five years and two months at Ipswich Crown Court on 29th January 2026. He pleaded guilty to numerous charges, including dangerous driving, possession with intent to supply cocaine and cannabis, and being concerned in the supply of class C drugs.
The case began after a collision between a BMW and another vehicle at Westward Ho in Leiston in March 2025. Conway, who was driving the BMW, fled the scene, leaving two elderly individuals in their 80s needing hospital treatment for their injuries.
Cocaine and other drugs were found in the BMW, and investigations revealed that its owner, 37-year-old Lloyd Bridge, had falsely reported the car as stolen to police and his insurance company after loaning it to Conway to supply drugs.
Further enquiries linked both Conway and Bridge to drug supply activities. Police later arrested Conway at his home, where they recovered additional quantities of cocaine. Bridge, of Ipswich, also pleaded guilty to charges, including being concerned in the supply of drugs and fraud by false representation.
A third person, 63-year-old Leslie Packman from Cambridge, admitted possessing criminal property connected to the operation.
Bridge received a two-year suspended sentence with 200 hours of unpaid work, while Packman was handed a 12-month community order.
DC Nicola Clarson of Suffolk Police’s Serious Crime Disruption Team commented on the case, saying, “This conviction and sentence once again highlight that Suffolk Constabulary will not tolerate the supply of controlled drugs. Those that undertake this activity have no regard to the lives and communities that are adversely affected, and we relentlessly pursue them with no hiding place.”
DC Clarson also praised the strength and courage of the crash victims, stating that their statements were crucial to the investigation, though the incident had “certainly impacted them detrimentally in how they lead their lives.”