Raunds drug dealers jailed

Two men who ran a class A drug dealing operation from Raunds have been jailed.
Willmott (left) and Ashby have been jailed.Willmott (left) and Ashby have been jailed.
Willmott (left) and Ashby have been jailed.

Robert Willmott, aged 57, and Montell Ashby, aged 23, were investigated after police became aware they were selling drugs from Willmott’s home in Grove Street between January and November last year.

They worked together to sell heroin and crack cocaine to drug users with Ashby using as many as 19 different mobile phones to make deals across the county, including in Wellingborough and Raunds.

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Ashby, of Webb Road in Raunds, admitted two charges of conspiring to supply class A drugs, with Willmott entered a guilty plea to the same charges at the start of his planned trial at Northampton Crown Court earlier this month.

Willmott (left) and Ashby have been jailed.Willmott (left) and Ashby have been jailed.
Willmott (left) and Ashby have been jailed.

A third defendant, a 43-year-old Raunds woman, was cleared of two counts of conspiring to supply class A drugs.

Last week Ashby was jailed for six years and nine months with Willmott sentenced to five years and six months in prison.

Detective Inspector Lee Hunt from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit said: “Drugs cause real and lasting harm to individuals and communities, and the supply of drugs is very often linked to organised crime and serious violence, including the use of firearms.

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“We will not tolerate the illegal actions of those who seek to profit from the supply of drugs and, as the jail terms given to Ashby and Willmott show, the penalties are substantial.

“I hope their time behind bars allows them time to reflect on the harm they have caused, and enables them to make better choices in the future.”