Spain fugitive drugs gang leader Stephen Blundell jailed

A fugitive drugs baron who masterminded a £1m heroin plot has been jailed for nearly 10 years.

Stephen Blundell, 36, of Leathers Lane, Liverpool, had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin but fled to Spain before he could be sentenced.

He controlled a gang which brought huge amounts of drugs to the South West, Exeter Crown Court heard.

The gang included a Cornish grandmother caught transporting £50,000 of heroin under four pasties in her shopping bag.

Blundell was jailed for nine years and eight months.

The rest of the gang were jailed for a total of more than 70 years in April last year.

Judge Phillip Wassall told Blundell: "This was a serious conspiracy constructed to bring drugs from Liverpool to the South West through repeated journeys by couriers to the South West."

He added: "It was a sophisticated operation and Blundell was the head of it and the very minimum amount he was responsible for was 5kg of heroin and may well have been more."

Mark Worsley, prosecuting, said Blundell's network operated from 2009 until his arrest in May 2011.

The gang included Bodmin grandparents Michael and Teresa Wood, two of their three sons and their grandson.

Teresa Wood was caught with heroin with an estimated street value of £50,000, her trial at Exeter Crown Court was told last year.

The heroin was found in her shopping bag alongside some Cornish pasties she had bought.