Leamington women and Warwick men accused of being part of 'county lines' drugs operation between towns and Birmingham

Two women made repeated runs to transport thousands of pounds worth of heroin and crack cocaine from Birmingham for sale to addicts in Warwick and Leamington, a jury has been told.
Rebecca ManixRebecca Manix
Rebecca Manix

But Rebecca Manix, 46, of Morton Street, Leamington, and Deborah Walsh, 57, of Lower Avenue, Leamington, have both pleaded not guilty to conspiring to supply the two class A drugs.

With them in the dock at Warwick Crown Court are two young men alleged to have been involved by acting as street-level dealers in the ‘county lines’ operation.

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Kyle Crossley, 18, of Pickard Street, Warwick, and Michael Hobday, 20, of Wedgnock Green, Warwick, have also denied the two conspiracy charges.

Rebecca ManixRebecca Manix
Rebecca Manix

Prosecutor Michael Shaw told the jury: “Operation Bushey Two is the name given by Warwickshire Police to part of a bigger investigation into the supply of class A drugs from Birmingham by a group of drug dealers to Leamington and Warwick for supply, what you may have heard called ‘county lines’ dealing.

“This particular operation has been charged as a conspiracy between a large number of people. There is a Birmingham end of it and a Warwick/Leamington end.

“The drugs are moved from Birmingham by couriers coming from Leamington or Warwick and driving or catching the train.

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“It is a well-organised and highly lucrative enterprise. There were literally hundreds of packets of drugs being moved by these defendants and others from Birmingham to Leamington and Warwick for distribution.”

Deborah WalshDeborah Walsh
Deborah Walsh

Mr Shaw alleged Manix was one of the organisers, together with her daughter’s partner, while Walsh was ‘one of the couriers, a driver who would drive Miss Manix to Birmingham and drive back.’

The drugs would then be passed to other members of the team who would supply them to people like Crossley and Hobday for pushing out onto the streets.

“We say there was a well-organised conspiracy to supply drugs, in fact two conspiracies, one to supply heroin and one to supply cocaine,” said Mr Shaw.

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He pointed out that others named in the charges Meshach Duncan, 30, of Weeford Drive, Handsworth Wood, Birmingham, Kieran Aldred, 20, of St Michaels Road, Warwick, Mateusz Frasunkiewicz, 21, of Buckley Road, Leamington and Dajon Donaldson, 20, of Coniston Crescent, Great Barr, Birmingham, had pleaded guilty.

Michael HobdayMichael Hobday
Michael Hobday

The jury heard that Operation Bushey One had let to the arrests of those four and others – but having been bailed, they carried on dealing using other couriers. “At the head of this operation was Meshach Duncan who lived in Birmingham where he controlled the drugs that were supplied out to Warwickshire. He has pleaded guilty to his part in this and in Bushey One.

“Just below him was a man called Mateusz Frasunkiewicz, known as Polish Matty, who lived at the time at the same address and Miss Manix in Buckley Road, Leamington.

He was Duncan’s right-hand man.

“Next to him was Kieran Aldred who played a key part in the distribution of drugs to the dealers.

Kyle CrossleyKyle Crossley
Kyle Crossley
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“Dajon Donaldson is part of the Birmingham operation. He is one of the runners for Duncan who would be sent down with drugs from Birmingham to Leamington.”

But Mr Shaw said it was normally the other way round, with couriers from Leamington and Warwick going to Birmingham to collect the drugs – until the police had begun picking them up.

He alleged that Manix was involved in organising runs back and forwards to Birmingham, while Crossley was trusted by Duncan to sell the drugs on the street, with Hobday in a similar position but for a shorter period.

“Finally Deborah Walsh was a driver. She had a red Mazda MX5. In return for payment in drugs, Miss Walsh would drive Miss Manix to Birmingham to pick up drugs and then drive them back.”

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The conspiracy ran from February to November 2017, and Mr Shaw said: “We say Manix was involved through the entire period, as was her common-law son-in-law Polish Matty.

Effectively the family business was the supply of class A drugs.

“We believe there were 181 runs involving Miss Manix and Frasunkiewicz and others making the drug run from Birmingham to Warwick.”

Walsh was alleged to have been involved between March and August, while Crossley and Hobday were directly involved in May, or ‘probably longer’ in Crossley’s case.

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The jury was told that on a number of occasions mobile phone cell site analysis showed Manix travelling from Leamington to a rendezvous in Birmingham, with Duncan also being tracked to the same spot at the same time.

And ANPR cameras along the route illustrated by the cell site analysis had captured Walsh’s car making the journey.

The Bushey Two operation had begun after Aldred had been seen meeting up with Crossley and others in April 2017, allegedly to pass on the drugs found on him when he was then arrested.

And the investigation revealed the alleged roles of the four defendants, he added.

The trial continues.

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