A JUDGE told a 38-year-old Ross-on-Wye man that he had ‘wrecked his life’ by getting involved in drugs as he sentenced William Long, of Brookend Street, to a prison term of three-and-a-half years for dealing in cocaine.

At Worcester Crown Court, sitting at Hereford, Judge Martin Jackson told Long: “You wrecked your life by becoming addicted to cocaine. You lost your job because you were in no fit state to work.

“You became involved in dealing drugs because, without employment, you were facing a position where you being forced to service your £5,000 debt.”

Prosecutor Laurie Scott explained that West Mercia Police executed a warrant at Long’s home address in Brookend Street on November 6, last year and forced entry.

Ms Scott said: As the officers got to the top of the stairs, they saw the bathroom door being closed but managed to wrestle their way in and found Long and arrested him.

“Long had a green fabric ball hidden between his legs. Examination of the item revealed that it contained seven packages of cocaine, each of them weighing around 28 grams.

“The officers then searched the property and found a couple of BB hand guns, a knife in a sheath, a blue washbag containing a set of digital scales, a plastic tub containing bags of cocaine along with an iphone and a burner phone, which contained messages and requests for both cannabis and cocaine.

Two quantities of cash were also found, totalling £1,235. And as the officers were leaving the premises they discovered an extendable baton at the bottom of the stairs.

The court was told that if the 226 grams had been sold in the way they had been packaged, it would have realised between £5,800 and £11,620. But if the drugs had been reduced to one gram deals it would have been worth between £9,080 and £22,700.

Long maintained his silence during his subsequent police interview and didn’t answer any questions.

The prosecutor pointed out to the court that Long had a significant role as he had effectively been in control of a drugs line phone within a chain, and was packaging the drugs and then dealing on the street.

“He was being trusted with a very large amount of controlled drugs by those further up the chain. He gained financially significantly from this operation,” she added.

Lee Egan, defending, explains that Long was not keeping all the monies he made from the enterprise, as he was having to pay back his own £5,000 drug debt.

He added: “Long was a user, a heavy user, who lost his employment and was forced into dealing to service the debt.

“He was not simply a runner; he was operating with a degree of independence but was also enduring part of the misery that drug dealing inflicts on others because of where he found himself.

“Long is lightly convicted and has basically fallen foul of cocaine. He accepts that a prison sentence is inevitable.”

Long pleaded guilty to being in possession of a quantity of cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply dates between November 1 and November 6, 2025, with intent to supply; being in possessing of criminal property, namely £1,235 cash on November 6 as proceeds of criminal activity and possession of an offensive weapon in a private place, namely an extendable telescopic baton.

Judge Martin told Long: “Your £5,00 debt arose because you took drugs on credit and this in turn made yourself vulnerable. You were found with half-a-pound of cannabis in old imperial weights. And in a small town like Ross is a lot of drugs.

“Somebody found with that amount of drugs is supplying a large number of people.

“The fact that you had the telescopic baton indicates to me that you are somebody who is prepared to use a weapon to protect your interests.”

After Long had been sentenced to a 42-month prison sentence the judge made an order for the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs and forfeiture of all cash, paraphernalia and the baton seized.

At the end of the hearing Long ‘thanked’ the judge for his sentence after which Judge Martin quipped: “I’m not sure if that is a sign of a satisfied defendant or not, but it’s not very often I get thanked from the dock for sending someone into custody.”

Detective Constable Emily Holder of Hereford CID said after the hearing: “We are pleased to see another drug dealer behind bars and off the streets of Herefordshire plying their harmful and illegal trade.

“The destructive effects of drugs and their impact on our communities are well documented so we hope this shows we are working to stamp out those seeking to peddle them in the West Mercia force area.”

“The public are our eyes and ears on the ground, and we would encourage anyone who has any information around suspected drug dealing in their area to report it to us so we can investigate.”