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Banbury woman guilty of organised crime group drugs offences
30/09/2022
2.8kg of cocaine, 18.3 grams of crack cocaine and more than £158,000 were found at Sophie Plowman’s Banbury home
A Banbury woman, who was part of an organised crime group that were looking to supply class A drugs across three counties, was yesterday convicted following a seven day case at Oxford Crown Court. Sophie Plowman was found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine.
Thames Valley Police undertook a significant investigation into an Organised Crime Group that had been operating in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Wiltshire. Five people from across these counties have already been sentenced to a combined total of more than 66 years in prison as part of this work. A sixth person is currently awaiting sentencing.
Between 31 March 2020 and 26 May 2021, Plowman had been a member of the Organised Crime Group working with others to supply large quantities of drugs across the Thames Valley and Wiltshire.
An encrypted message using the EncroChat service was intercepted by investigators and this was attributed to Richard Gray who, with his brother Patrick, ran the Organised Crime Group. Intelligence indicated they were involved in the supply of class A drugs.
The investigation that followed identified that Richard Gray and others travelled to Lancashire to purchase drugs. These drugs were then returned to Banbury and stored at Plowman’s home address at the time, Songthrush Road.
When a warrant was executed in May 2021 more than 2.8kg of cocaine and 18.3 grams of crack cocaine were recovered, along with cash totalling more than £158,000.
Investigating officer Detective Constable Gavin Toney, of the Serious Organised Crime Unit, said: “We have previously secured the convictions of six members of this OCG, and Plowman has now also been found guilty accordingly.
“The convictions we have secured are as a result of intelligence-led warrants following information received from the [National Crime Agency].
“Those convicted brought large quantities of class A drugs into the Thames Valley with the intention of flooding the Thames Valley with them.
“Although Plowman played a lesser role than the other defendants, she was still found guilty of this very serious offence and will be sentenced accordingly in due course.
“Our Stronghold team will proactively and robustly pursue and prosecute offenders, and our activity will be both visible and covert to ensure that the harm brought into our communities by organised crime groups is removed.
“I would like to reassure our communities that we will continue to tackle drug supply and will continue to bring offenders before the courts where they belong.”
Plowman will be sentenced on November 10.
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam