Sidmouth drug gang recruited dealers from Exmouth and Ottery

A drugs gang that trafficked almost £4 million of cannabis into East Devon and Cornwall has been jailed for a total of just under 28 years.

Sidmouth businessmen Philip Fallows organised the delivery of weekly consignments of seven kilograms of high quality cannabis which was sold in blocks bearing a copy of the EA7 Emporia Armani logo.

He obtained the drugs from the co-leader of the conspiracy and distributed it through a network of sub-dealers in seaside and market towns. The gang expanded into Cornwall and diversified into selling cocaine as well as cannabis.

Fallows and Chapman were both jobbing builders who used their legitimate businesses as cover for drug dealing.

They trafficked at least 390 kilograms of cannabis and 18.8 kilograms of cocaine into the South West. Chapman’s role was to buy from contacts in London and Spain while Fallows ran the distribution network in Sidmouth, Exmouth, Ottery St Mary, Exeter and Cornwall.. 

Chapman used his 67-year-old father Paul, who lived just outside Sidmouth, as the main courier, making 47 weekly trips to Cheshunt in Hertfordshire to pick up seven kilos of cannabis per journey while delivering vast amounts of cash to pay for it.

Fallows’s older brother George and a friend ran distribution hubs in Ottery St Mary and supplied Keene with the drugs he sold to fellow users in Crediton. He only dealt in cannabis and never got involved with cocaine.

The conspiracy lasted for 14 months before police broke it up, first by arresting Paul Chapman as he arrived home with a car full of cannabis in May 2022 and then through simultaneous raids on Fallows, Topham and many of the others in late August 2024.

Jamie Chapman and Philip Fallows were buying the drugs in bulk from mysterious contacts in London and Spain known only as Harry and Big Jim. They started by just selling cannabis but diversifying into cocaine in 2022.

They set up their own channel named South Coast on the encrypted social media app Signal and adjusted the settings to ensure that most of their messages were deleted automatically.

The amounts of drugs and cash involved were huge. The estimated street value of the cannabis alone was almost £4 million.

Police seized £11,000 cash, 20 kilos of amphetamines and three kilos of cannabis from Philip Fallows’ properties in Sidmouth and Budleigh Salterton and more at his brother’s and Topham’s homes.

The amount of cash deposited into the gang’s bank accounts was more than £350,000 but much larger sums were sent back to pay for previous supplies and fund expansion and new purchases.

Some of the cannabis seized had been pressed into rectangular ingots and stamped with a version of the Emporio Armani logo.

The gang has received jail terms totalling 27 years and 11 months from Judge David Evans at Exeter Crown Court, where they all admitted conspiracy or drugs offences.

Philip Fallows was jailed for seven years and eight months and Jamie Chapman for six years and ten months.

The judge told Fallows: “You sourced cannabis and cocaine from outside the area for transportation to the South West and made arrangements for its onward distribution. You made a handsome profit out of it.

“Jamie Chapman and Philip Fallows met through work and went on to play a central and leading role for many months with Chapman up country sourcing drugs in large quantities and negotiating the price with suppliers, arranging transportation and reaping the rewards.”

Mr Joss Ticehurst, prosecuting, said Chapman sourced the drugs in London and Spain and his father made 47 trips to deliver them to Sidmouth, from where they were passed on to several sub dealers in East Devon and Topham in Cornwall.

The scheme started with cannabis in June 2021 but went on to supply cocaine. All the 12 people involved had different roles, with Exmouth based couriers Matthew Harris and Scott Bayliss being the least, having acted as minder and driver for one trip to and from London.

Damien Carnell sold to users in Sidmouth and Exeter and recruited two of his customers, to help him. George Fallows, who has yet to be sentenced, ran a distribution hub in Ottery St Mary and recruited Gary Hedgeland to help him and Jonathan Keene to sell at street level in Crediton.

Matthew Topham ran an operation which was based in Camelford but sold drugs all over the county and he recruited his next door neighbour Jack Cullip as his sidekick. The scale of their operation was evidenced by almost £200,000 cash deposits into Tophams’s bank account.

Defence barristers who mitigated for all the defendants sentenced so far said they got involved because of their own drug use or financial hardship.

The full list of those who have admitted supplying class A or B drugs and their sentences is below:

Philip Fallows, aged 36, of Cotmaton Road, Sidmouth. Seven years, eight months

Jamie Chapman, aged 33, of Old North Road, Hertfordshire, six years, ten months.

Matthew Harris, aged 55, of Albion Street, Exmouth. 240 hours unpaid work

George Fallows, aged 40, of Mill Street, Ottery St Mary. To be sentenced later.

Damien Carnell, aged 37, of Manstone Avenue, Sidmouth. Two years seven months,

Paul Chapman, aged 67, of South Lawn, Sidford. Three years, three months.

Gary Hedgeland, aged 31, of Sunny Hill, Ottery St Mary. A year and eight months suspended for two years with 210 hours unpaid work.

Jonathan Keene, aged 33, of Willow Walk, Crediton. 140 hours unpaid work.

Tia Pryor-Howard, aged 24, of Vaughan Road, Exeter. One year nine months suspended for two years, 180 hours unpaid work, 20 rehabilitation days.

Matthew Topham, aged 30, of Willowbank, Camelford. Four years ten months.

Jack Cullip, aged 24, of Willowbank, Camelford. Two years nine months

Scott Bayliss, aged 44, of Albion Street, Exmouth, 210 hours unpaid community work and 20 days of rehabilitation activities.

Zoe Mardon, aged 47, of Waters Road, Salisbury, has admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis. 70 hours unpaid work and ten rehabilitation activity days.