Men who ran four county lines in Corby busted when police smashed into trap house

Led by Alexi Da’Costa and Tyrone James, the drug operation was smashed apart when police raided a house in Waterside Lane, Corby, and found members of the gang sitting in the living room surrounded by drugs and phones ringing off the hook.

The drug lines supplied crack cocaine and heroin to addicts across Corby and beyond. The two protagonists were found to have made trips to other cities including Walsall and Norwich to traffic drugs.

They posed together for photos with bundles of cash and guns.

James, known to drug users as TJ Trapp, was running the operation throughout 2023 along with his pal Da’Costa.

But their partnership, and friendship, came to an abrupt end weeks before police caught them after Da’Costa stabbed his pal and James fled to Birmingham.

The pair were before Northampton Crown Court yesterday (Thursday, August 29) to be sentenced for conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

James, of Upton Grove, Birmingham, who has previous addresses in Sandwell, and at Pascal Close, Corby, along with Da’Costa, of Lowry Close, Corby, each ran their own one of four drug lines called Rocky, Mitch, Marlow and MK, along with two juveniles.

Also being sentenced were William ‘Billy’ Hynds, 28, and Tyler Tierney, 20, for supplying class A drugs, and Stephen Donnelly, 48, for allowing his home to be used for drug dealing.

Posing with guns

The court was told by prosecutor Adam Pearson that a VW Golf driven by James was stopped in Gainsborough Road on July 19 last year. Alexi Da’Costa and Tyler Tierney were passengers.

The car sped off but police went to Da’Costa’s house, found the group and arrested James. On his phone they discovered messages about drug dealing from his own ‘Mitch’ line.

The following day officers returned to Lowry Close and found a phone that was related to the ‘Rocky’ line.

James was again arrested in August in Gainsborough Road and found to have 16 wraps of cocaine in his pants and phones connected to three of the county lines. A marketing message on his phone read: “Mitch back on. Best of both”, relating to the crack cocaine and heroin on sale.

A picture of James and Da’Costa posing with firearms was also found on the phone.

‘I ain’t trapping for nothing’

When James was arrested again in September police found 35 wraps of cocaine and a pot of heroin. James blamed the dealing on Da’Costa, saying he’d been pressured into it.

Officers went to Da’Costa’s house on October 11 and he was climbing out a window as they arrived. They saw him throw a Kinder Egg stuffed with drugs into the garden. They also discovered a pot of heroin and caffeine, which is used as a cutting agent for cocaine.

On his phone, linked to his ‘Rocky’ line, they found a message saying: “I got to make a profit. I ain’t trapping for nothing” and “I’m making mad bread.”

There was also a recruitment message sent out saying: “You want to trap? Who for? Me.”

A month later, cops were hunting another 16-year-old drug dealer when they burst into Donnelly’s home in November 2023 to find Hynds, Tierney and others in the living room with class-A drugs worth £8,700, including 144 wraps and two separate pots of heroin, 33 wraps of crack and 11g of cocaine, cutting boards and cling film.

They also found four mobile phones which were ringing constantly later found to be linked to the four drug lines.

Mr Pearson said: “The house was being used as a trap house. Mr Donnelly was at the shop when police arrived but he came back to find them there.

"He said he had left people in the house and the next thing he knew there were other people there.”

Da’Costa, 24, who appeared from HMP Nottingham via videolink, had initially denied the conspiracy. But a jury at Leicester Crown Court convicted him.

The other defendants had all admitted their part in the plot. Da’Costa and James also both admitted being in breach of previous suspended sentence orders.

‘Enjoying the trappings of drug dealing’

His Honour Judge William Harbage KC, sentencing, said: “Drug dealing is an evil trade. It causes misery to the end users, the addicts who take drugs. It affects their health and causes them to fall into debt.

"Often threats are made, often threats of violence.

"There were photographs found in a number of phones of the two of you posing with bundles of cash enjoying the trappings of drug dealing.

"There were photographs of the two of you with firearms."

“Mr James when you were interviewed you said you’d moved out of Corby because Mr Da’Costa had stabbed you. Before that you’d been the best of friends. You were operating together as equal partners.

Alexi Da’Costa

Several references were made in court to a man at the top of the Corby conspiracy named only as ‘Cash’. He has not been prosecuted.

Da’Costa told police he had been violent toward him after he had been dragged into dealing aged 15 after he started taking drugs.

Back in 2021 he was involved in a vicious assault in George Street, again as a result of a dealing operation, when he stamped on a boy’s head.

The court heard how he had PTSD, ADHD and an IQ of just 70.

His mum and sister were in court to support him and relatives had written letters to the court describing his offending as an ‘aberration’.

He blamed his own offending on Tyrone James but this was dismissed by the judge who said they were ‘equal partners’.

At his trial, Da’Costa claimed he’d been a victim of modern slavery but his defence failed to persuade the jury who found him guilty.

He spent most of his sentencing hearing with his head in his hands.

Judge Harbage said to him: “You were given a chance on each of the occasions you were given a suspended sentence but you did not learn your lesson.

"You’re not as suggestable as you make out in your probation report. There were obviously others above you in the chain and some pressure but you were not compelled to do what you did. You enjoyed the money you made.”

He was given seven years in prison and both his suspended sentences were activated, to run concurrently.

Tyrone James

The court heard how both James, 23, and Da’Costa had previously been before the courts twice each on drug dealing charges but had been given suspended sentences.

James was a youth when he was convicted of supplying class-A drugs in 2018 and 2019 but is a ‘third-striker’, which means the recommended starting point for sentencing is seven years in prison. In total he has 12 convictions on his record for a range of crimes.

Giving him credit for his guilty plea, Judge Harbage sentenced him to five years and seven months in prison and six months for each of the suspended sentences he was in breach of, to run concurrently.

Billy Hynds

The court heard Hynds, of Spey Road, Corby, has two previous convictions. However, he was the resident of a trap house that was robbed back in 2020 by Wes Brown, who later died. Hynds, wearing a grey tracksuit, had his mum in court to support him.

In mitigation the court heard from his barrister Liam Muir that he had been addicted to class-A drugs and was diagnosed with ADHD and autism, but was now ‘turning around his life’ and had recently had a clear drugs test.

He was given a two year prison sentence, suspended for two years and ordered to complete 30 rehabilitation requirement days.

Tyler Tierney

Tierney, of Waver Close, has no previous convictions. His barrister Liam Chin told the court he was in employment prior to getting addicted to cocaine. He admitted to probation officers he had been dealing for three weeks to support his habit.

He was given a jail term of two years, suspended for two years and ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and 30 rehabilitation requirement days.

Stephen Donnelly

Donnelly has 31 previous convictions racked up between 1994 and 2001 but then none for many years after he detoxed from drugs. He became addicted once more after his partner died in 2017 and his son was removed from his care.

Donnelly, who carried a Tesco carrier bag with him, turned up drunk to yesterday’s hearing and was initially denied access to the courtroom. When he finally gained entry he was stopped from going in the dock due to his intoxication. The court was told that he admitted having ‘one can’. He was incoherent when he tried to address the court but his barrister said he was fit to be sentenced.

His barrister Liam Muir said: “He finds himself back in the grips of addiction. It’s a journey back to sobriety. Fifteen years of no drugs, gone in a single moment.”

He was given 22 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months and ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and 40 rehabilitation requirement days.

- Barry Aaron Joseph McGlone, aged 36, of Occupation Road, Corby, and Jason Keith McShefferty, aged 46, of no fixed address, were both found not guilty of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs.

The two youths involved in the case – neither of which can be named – have since been charged with subsequent offences involving Class-A drug dealing and violence.