'Dangerous' Bedfordshire drug dealer who trafficked vulnerable boys given county's first slavery prevention order

A drug dealer has been jailed for more than five years and given Bedfordshire's first slavery and trafficking prevention order (STPO) for running a county lines operation.

Schimarr Smith, 20, trafficked two teenagers from Luton to Cambridge to sell drugs and placed them in drug dens so they were easy for his customers to reach.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of modern-day slavery offences, and conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin.

At his sentencing on Thursday, Judge Johnson said while Smith had been a victim of modern slavery himself when he was younger, he had perpetuated the cycle instead of breaking it by finding two boys "ripe for exploitation".

The STPO has been put in place for 10 years and prevents Smith from owning more than one mobile device and having any unsupervised contact or communication with anyone under the age of 18.

He was also sentenced to five years and one month, initially to be served in a Young Offender Institution.

Smith became a person of interest when police discovered a boy with class A drugs and a mobile phone at a Cambridge address.

He was arrested at Runham Close, Luton, alongside Dante Daley-Witter, 21.

Officers at the property found more than £2,000 in cash, two bags of individually packaged deals of cocaine and heroin, phones, knives, and a stab-proof vest.

Police analysts discovered Smith's phone was in the same place as the boys' mobiles on numerous occasions, and made the same journeys when the boys were moved by taxi between Luton and Cambridge.

Daley-Witter, of Runham Close, was sentenced to two years and four months in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, heroin and cannabis.

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Detective Sergeant Flaminia Romita, from Bedfordshire Police's specialist boson guns and gang unit, said the STPO has "set a precedent which we'll use in our favour to protect young and vulnerable people from dangerous drug dealers like Smith".

She continued: "County lines gangs groom children by showering them with gifts, money and making them feel that they will be looked after.

"These tactics often mean the young person is then in their debt and will owe them favours, such as carrying weapons or selling drugs. They have no problem with putting a young person at risk to make money.

"I hope this result will be a warning to those who exploit children to deal drugs in our county and further afield that they will not go unpunished."