Devon drug trafficker has sentence extended

Stephen Wills will serve 14 years now

A Devon drug trafficker has had his prison sentence extended after the Court of Appeal ruled it was too lenient. 

36-year-old Stephen Wills, from Bridford, Exeter was originally sentenced to nine years in prison for being part of two organised crime groups that trafficked cocaine across the UK. 

Mr Wills was sentenced at Exeter Crown Court in March. The court heard that between 2019 and 2020, the group delivered drugs from a foreign crime group operating in London to drug dealers around Exeter.

He played a significant role operating from the rented farmhouse where he lived with his family, using the outbuildings to store and package cocaine and to harvest and produce cannabis.

Police discovered this when the offender was stopped in his vehicle and arrested in 2020.

An investigation of the property also found several firearms, ammunition and more than a quarter kilogram of cocaine, with a wholesale value of over £46,000.

The court also heard that Mr Wills had 33 previous convictions, including for firearm offences. 

He was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition for five years in 2018 and in 2021, he was convicted for three offences relating to possession of an air rifle and ammunition

The Solicitor General Lucy Rigby KC MP said: This offender was part of two organised crime gangs which trafficked significant quantities of drugs across the country.

We know that the impact of organised crime on our communities is devastating and I welcome the Court’s decision to increase Mr Wills’ sentence following my intervention.”