Couple admit role in Blackpool and Fleetwood drugs cartel dealing cocaine across Fylde Coast

But the case against the pair had to be adjourned after one of the accused denied knowing the scale of the cutting and distribution operation her house was being used for.

Angel Doyle and her partner Aaron Hine have both admitted being part of a gang which supplied cocaine on the streets of Blackpool, Fleetwood and other Fylde Coast towns.

They had expected to be sentenced by Judge Richard Gioserano at Preston Crown Court this week.

But the hearing was dramatically halted after Doyle’s lawyer claimed she was unaware of the exact quantities of drugs being handled at her home in Hathaway Road, Fleetwood.

The prosecution say that as much as 18 kilos of cocaine could have gone through her house which was being used as a “warehouse” for the operation.

Yet barrister Claire Larton argued her client should not be sentenced for that total amount because she had no knowledge of how much was being traded by the cartel.

She had only been involved in drug exchanges “on the odd occasion” and had not been part of the cocaine cutting work which went on in the house. Her role, said Miss Larton, was “a lesser one.”

The court heard that Doyle, 25, and Hine, 36, of Enfield Road, Blackpool, were the first two defendants to face sentence after 19 people were charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine between January 31, 2022 and January 1, 2023.

The arrests came after a series of raids by police in May 2023 in Phase 2 of Lancashire Constabulary’s Operation Warrior to crack down on serious and organised crime across the county. They followed 17 earlier arrests in 2022 in Phase 1.

Those arrested in Phase 2 ranged in age from 21 to 40 and came from Blackpool, Fleetwood, Thornton-Cleveleys, Bispham, Kirkham and Poulton-le-Fylde.

Judge Gioserano heard that Doyle was the girlfriend of Hine and had allowed her house to be used by the gang.

Daniel Harman, defending Hine, said there was “positive evidence” of an estimate of between 11.3 kilos and 18 kilos of cocaine being handled by the “global conspiracy.”

He said his client conceded that his involvement fell into Category 1 of the sentencing guidelines which covered quantities of cocaine in excess of five kilos.

Hine could therefore be facing a jail term of around 10 years because his role could be classed as significant.

“It is very difficult for him to establish how much went through his hands,” said Mr Harman. “But he concedes it was a significant amount . . . looking at the time he was involved, the quantities involved at his level and given his role.”

But Miss Larton, for Doyle, said that although her client had been involved and had allowed her house to be used, she denied knowing the quantities of cocaine coming and going through the premises.

“So in relation to Miss Doyle I do not make the same concession,” she said. “She doesn’t accept she knew how much was going through the house.”

Judge Gioserano said that he could no proceed on sentencing the couple because, while Hine’s counsel accepted his involvement fell into Category 1, Doyle’s barrister maintained her client should be dealt with for a lesser role.

The case will return to Crown Court on September 24 for sentencing to be delivered.