A crafty drug gang who sold crack and heroin using rhyming text messages have finally been locked up. Kieron Benbow and his two pals, Louise Saunders and Sarah Faulconbridge, ran a drug ring from Nottingham to Chesterfield, touting their stash in hire cars to dodge the cops.
They operated under the alias “Sam,” bombing punters’ phones with cheeky poetic adverts. One gem sent on Valentine’s Day read: “Roses are red, violets are blue, our gear is fire, come buy two and two. Happy Valentine’s Day.” Other texts included lines like “The sun is shining, Sam’s up and rising, I got dat takle that gets U climbin!”—a bizarre attempt at marketing misery disguised as verse.
Benbow’s luck ran out in February 2020 on the A617 near Chesterfield. After a police chase, he tossed 187 wraps of drugs out the window before being caught. Cops seized his phone, loaded with his poetic sales pitches, including a cheeky selfie outside Chesterfield police station, boasting he couldn’t be caught.
A few days later, Thompson and Faulconbridge were caught with a stash of class A drugs—187 wraps even hidden in Faulconbridge’s bra. Further phone evidence led to Saunders’ arrest in March. All four pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs at Derby Crown Court.
Sentences for the rhyming dealers are as follows:
- Kieron Benbow: 8 years (no fixed address, ex-Newthorpe, Nottingham)
- Louise Saunders, 38, Carlton, Nottingham: 2½ years
- Sarah Faulconbridge, 40, Mapperley, Nottingham: 2½ years
- Gary Thompson, 41, Chesterfield: 2 years
PC Helen Ward said: “While they must have found it funny writing rhymes to lure their users, the misery they caused was anything but.”
“This group pumped drugs into Chesterfield, touring with a fleet of hire cars and using thugs like Thompson to prey on vulnerable users in broad daylight.”
“Their sentences should send a warning that drug-dealing won’t be tolerated. I also hope the gang use their time behind bars to work on their poetry.”
Originally published by UKNIP.
