TWO Bridport-based drug dealers have been jailed for their part in a drugs ring operation across Dorset.

The gang of five involved in the operation were sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison at Bournemouth Crown Court on Tuesday, May 19.

Robin Brasier, 68, and Tara Ruffell, 30, both from Bridport, were found guilty by a jury of conspiring to supply heroin and cocaine in Dorset.

The trial began on Monday, March 16.

Brasier received a sentence of nine years and Ruffell was sent to prison for six years.

Christie Tierney, 31, and Robert Winterton, 30, also both from Liverpool, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to conspiracy to supply class A drugs to Brasier.

Thomas Burns, 31, also from Liverpool, pleaded guilty to money laundering.

Tierney was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison, with Winterton receiving six and a half years and Burns two years.

Detective Constable Steve Pryce, of Dorset Police’s Major Crime Investigation Team, said: “Drug dealing, drug use and associated crimes cause nothing but misery for our communities.

“These convictions send out a strong message that Dorset Police and the courts do not tolerate drug dealing in the county and the police force is committed to tackling organised crime.

“I would like to commend all of the officers who worked on this case including the investigation and intelligence teams, whose hard work led to the successful convictions of these offenders.”

Ruffell was arrested on February 3, 2014 on suspicion of possessing class A drugs with the intent to supply.

Following that arrest, officers gathered intelligence that found Brasier and Ruffell had been arranging shipments of heroin and crack cocaine into Dorset through contacts in Liverpool.

Cash transferred through local banks was also traced to branches in Liverpool.

The drugs were then couriered down to Dorset and distributed in Bridport and surrounding towns, with Brasier’s Higher Eype address being used as the hub of the operation.

Brasier was arrested after officers executed a drugs warrant at the address on March 6, 2014 and was charged with conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

The arrests were carried out under Operation Crusade, which investigated a group of those suspected to be supplying controlled drugs across Dorset.