A 41-year-old man from an east Suffolk town has been jailed for seven years and eight months after making about £50,000 from drug dealing in less than a year.

Russell Stanley, who is of Denmark Road in Lowestoft, was sentenced on three counts including being concerned in supply of cocaine between August 2021 and April 2022, and two other counts of possession with intent to supply cocaine over 2023 and 2024.

Russell Stanley was sentenced at Ipswich Crown CourtRussell Stanley was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court (Image: Suffolk Police)

Stanley appeared via a video link at Ipswich Crown Court on Thursday for sentencing after previously pleading guilty to the charges.

The court had heard police had attended his home address and seized his phone, £550 in cash and drug paraphernalia.

Messages on the phone were consistent with commercial supply over the eight-month period between 2021 and 2022 and the court heard about £50,000 had been through his account over that time.

On the day of arrest, the defendant made no comment.

While he was on bail in October 2023 police came to his address again and found cocaine, scales, paraphernalia and a mobile phone with messages indicating he was involved in commercial supply.

Then on March 26 this year police stopped a car on the A12 in which he was a passenger and found a bag containing cocaine in his underwear, with an estimated value of £1,500.

In mitigation, the court heard Stanley had recently suffered a great number of bereavements and this had led him back to his drug habit, which he then funded by selling drugs himself.

Judge Richard Kelly said the defendant had 14 convictions for 45 offences between 2002 and 2024, including 17 drug offences.

He added Stanley was selling directly to users and and made significant financial gain, beyond what would be needed to merely fund a drug habit.