Baby-faced gang members brought misery to town - then refused to talk

Two knife-wielding teenagers who refused to tell police how they flooded a town's streets with drugs have been jailed.

Keenan Hughes and Vincent Potter first came to police attention in April this year, when officers became aware of a mobile phone number which was being used to sell drugs in Cheshire. The number was being run by the 'Kyle' county lines gang.

CCTV footage showed an unknown man who was suspected to be one of the people using the phone. The image was sent to Cheshire Police's facial recognition system, which matched it to Hughes.

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On May 17, he was spotted walking along Winnington Street, in Northwich, alongside Potter. Both men were stopped and searched by officers.

Hughes was found in possession of 99 individual wraps of crack cocaine, worth approximately £990, along with a hunting style knife. Potter was found to have two mobile phones, a lock knife and £960 cash. The pair were arrested for drugs offences and possession of a knife in a public place.

According to Cheshire Police, the pair remained tight-lipped in relation to drugs offences during interrogation, answering no comment to the majority of the questions put to them. But when analysing one of the phones seized from Potter, officers discovered several messages indicating it had been being used to sell illegal drugs.

Despite their silence, both teenagers were charged with possession with intent to supply Class A drugs (crack cocaine), possession of criminal property and possession of a knife in a public place. They pleaded guilty to the offences before being sentenced at Chester Crown Court yesterday (July 1).

Hughes, 18, of Cable Street, Connah’s Quay, was