A man has had his sentence for modern slavery offences increased at the Court of Appeal today.

Omorie Nixon, 20, was jailed in January for exploiting vulnerable young men in a County Lines network that supplied heroin and crack cocaine across Devon and Cornwall.

Yesterday's decision follows an appeal by the CPS on the grounds that the original sentence was unduly lenient.

Omorie Nixon was originally sentenced to seven years and ten months in prison. His sentence has now been increased to ten years and nine months.

The offences occurred between December 2019 and March 2020.

Ann Hampshire, of the CPS, said: “We welcome the increase in sentence imposed following the review by the Court of Appeal. The defendant's exploitation of vulnerable young people is now reflected by the lengthy sentence imposed today.

“This was a particularly complex sentencing exercise. The Unduly Lenient sentence provisions provide for an application to be made to the Court to review a sentence, and we are pleased that the Attorney General supported the CPS request for a review of this case”.

Omerie Nixon

Omorie Nixon

Nixon, from Ilford, was convicted of three counts of human trafficking, involving four youths, between December 2019 and March 2020, having pleaded guilty to the offences.

Nixon was also convicted of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs – heroin and crack cocaine – and possession of an illicit mobile phone in prison.

He was convicted at Exeter Crown Court on December 2 following an 11-month investigation by officers from the Devon & Cornwall Police Torquay Criminal Investigation Department which began on January 24, 2020.

Read next:

County Lines drug dealing couple jailed after trafficking case

The defendant's conspiracy to supply Class A drugs into Devon and Cornwall from London ran from 16 December 2019 to 13 March 2020.

Vulnerable youths were transported on these trips and used to carry heroin and cocaine inside their bodies.

The defendant was found guilty of using the teenagers – two 15-year-olds and two 16-year-olds, at the time – to hold and sell the drugs at various locations in Devon and Cornwall including Torquay, Plymouth and Penzance.

Police found two of the boys to be carrying large amounts of heroin and cocaine inside their rectums. One of the teenagers had 80 wraps (10.8g) of crack cocaine and 49 wraps (5g) of heroin –inside him, totalling £1,290, while the other was found to have 39 wraps (6.12g) of crack cocaine and 23 wraps (2.28g) of heroin, totalling £1,100 inside him.

A forensic toxicologist ruled that if the packages inside the boys had split, they could have died.