FOUR men have been imprisoned for conspiring to supply Class A drugs in the St Helens area.

The group, including one man from St Helens, were sentenced today (Friday, May 6) at Liverpool Crown Court to a total of 25 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine.

Gang "leader" Steven Naylor, 36, of Patterdale Drive, St Helens, was jailed for eight years eight months; David Francis Naylor, 26, of Deane Road, Liverpool got six years; Anthony Ronald Cuddy, 32, of Feltwood Road, Liverpool, was jailed for five years four months; and Robert Crabb 44, of Field Lane, Fazakerley got five years.

Last November, a fifth man, Anthony Wayne Simpson, 41, of Thackray Road in St Helens, was jailed for five years four months after pleading guilty to possession of heroin with intent to supply.

DC Dan Pilling said: "This group have plagued the streets of St Helens for several years profiting heavily from the sales of drugs. The clear message today is that if you are involved in the supply of illegal drugs, you will be arrested and put before the courts."

He added: "We believe Steven Naylor was the leader of the group responsible for the supply of Class A drugs in the St Helens area. We also believe that Crabb was the group's driver, David Naylor was responsible for the day-to-day street dealing and Cuddy responsible for storing, cutting and bagging the drugs ready for street level dealing. Simpson was jailed for helping to store quantities of the drugs at his home address.

"I hope these sentences serve as a deterrent to anyone thinking of becoming involved in the supply of drugs. My message is that we will find you and we will put you before the courts."

A six-month-long police investigation - which took place between June and November 2015 - resulted in four recoveries of controlled drugs.

On June 9 plain clothes officers witnessed a vehicle pulling into Sorogold Street, St Helens, and become involved in a transaction with a drug user. Upon searching the user, officers located six wraps of heroin and crack cocaine. Steven Naylor was arrested for this offence.

On July 30 in Clinkham Wood, police stopped a vehicle with Steven Naylor driving and, upon a search, recovered 50 wraps of heroin and crack cocaine.

On August 10, a search warrant was executed at Thackray Road, St Helens, the home address of Simpson. Officers located a black bag containing a safe. Inside were four packages wrapped in brown tape, along with a number of smaller white plastic bags containing powder.

The packages contained a total of 1.958kg of heroin at 58 to 61 per cent purity; the smaller bags contained 388.53g of "bash" type product - chemicals cut with drugs. The drugs were valued at between £117,531 and £195,885.

Simpson denied the offence, alleging the safe and its contents must have belonged to his mother who had passed away recently. He was charged, remanded into custody and, following a guilty plea at Liverpool Crown Court on November 9, received five years and four months imprisonment. His mitigation was that he was looking after the drugs for other people whom he refused to name.

Both Simpson and Steven Naylor were forensically linked to drugs recovered from Simpson's address.

Enquiries then led police to conduct a search warrant on October 14 at Feltwood Road - the home address of Cuddy. During the search 288 wraps of heroin and crack cocaine were recovered.