Herefordshire and Worcestershire drug dealing gang jailed
The group have been sentenced to more than 94 years between them
Last updated 13th May 2025
A gang of drug dealers who flooded cocaine and cannabis into Worcestershire and Herefordshire have been sentenced to a total of 94 years and four months in jail.
Five people were put behind bars in November, with the final defendant - 56 year old Paul Bailey from Jersey Close in Redditch given a 20 year prison term at Worcester Crown Court yesterday (Monday 31st March).
The other gang members has been sentenced as follows:
- Jamie Worrall, 38, of Sandicliffe Close, Kidderminster, was previously sentenced to 17 years on 6th November
- Arron Adams, 39, of Boughton Avenue, Worcester was sentenced to 22 years on 6th November
- Adam Nicholls, 42, of Weyburn Close, Worcester was sentenced to 23 years on 6th November
- Nicola Everton, 37, of Hindlip, Worcester was sentenced to six years on 6th November
- Phillip Smith, 57, of Gregorys Bank, Worcester was sentenced to 6 years 4 months on 8th November
Another accomplice - 39 year old Shaun Carr from Woodmancote in Worcester was given a 10-month sentence, suspended for 12 months after being found guilty of money laundering on 6th November.
The investigation was part of Operation Pyrogenic - a proactive operation into the large-scale supply of cocaine and cannabis into Worcestershire, Herefordshire and the West Midlands area.
The operation took place between April 2020 and July 2021, revealing the gang operated a large-scale middle market drugs supply chain and were involved in the sourcing, distribution and selling of drugs which reached as far as Lincolnshire and Devon.
This organised crime group used encrypted mobile phone devices on a platform based in France called ‘Encro-chat’ to organise the supply of cannabis and cocaine which were infiltrated and deciphered by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Bailey, Adams, Nicholls, Worrall, Everton, and Smith used these devices to orchestrate the multi-kilo supply of cannabis and cocaine into the region.
They continued to operate after the Encro-chat network had been infiltrated by police using other encrypted communication applications.
On July 9th 2020, Everton was arrested by police with a kilogram of cocaine in her vehicle on the M5 near junction 6.
On January 6th 2021, police arrested Bailey, Adams, Nicholls and Smith at their home addresses.
During searches of the addresses, imagery was found to assist in the attribution of the Encro-chat handles.
Nicholls had sent an image of his computer with his reflection on it over the Encro-chat under one of the user handles.
On 27th October 2020, Carr was arrested by officers at junction 2 on the M5 with £17,000 in a plastic shopping bag.
They found one of Nicholls’ fingerprints on this bag.
Police seized numerous mobile phones after the conspirators had been arrested.
On Smith’s mobile phone, police found evidence of drug supply and conversations between him and other conspirators about the movement of drugs.
Carr, Smith, Bailey, Everton and Worrall all pleaded guilty prior to trial.
After a three-week trial at Worcester Crown Court a jury took less than six hours of deliberation to find Adams and Nicholls guilty of the conspiracy on 6th November.
Detective Chief Inspector Peter Cooke said: “This is a fantastic result following a complex investigation. The team have successfully taken a large number of drugs off the streets and put this group who caused misery in our communities behind bars for a very long time.
“Drugs ruin lives and poison communities and we remain dedicated to breaking supply lines through our region.
“These offenders are ruthless and think nothing of exploiting vulnerable people, putting them at risk of serious harm, while they sit back and count the money.
“These sentences send a strong message that drug dealers will be caught, and they face many years in prison.
“We will continue to strive to keep drugs off our streets and protect vulnerable people.”