A ruthless gang member has been found guilty of using children as young as 14 to smuggle and sell drugs.

Dean Alford, 25, form Canterbury was yesterday convicted of forcing "vulnerable" teenagers to sell crack cocaine and heroin for him in a huge county lines operation.

Already serving an 11-year jail sentence for drug offences and a three-year term for perverting the course of justice, Alford will be sentenced yet again next month under modern slavery legislation.

His new conviction comes after a trial at Inner London Crown Court, where he and two other 25-year-old gang members from London, were found guilty of human trafficking.

Boys and girls were among the six victims to be recruited as drug runners by Alford and his accomplices, Michael Karemera and Glodi Wabelua.

Each victim was groomed and trafficked, with their lives and freedom of movement being strictly controlled. They were harboured in drug users' homes in Portsmouth and received instructions via mobile phone, telling them where to sell or drop off class A drugs.

Alford, who was charged with three counts of trafficking and pleaded guilty at the close of the prosecution's case, frequently met the victims at night to re-supply the drug lines and deal on the streets.

The drugs line dubbed 'Duffy' which he ran would regularly get between 200 and 300 calls each day from people wanting to buy drugs.

Five of the victims, whose ages ranged from 14 to 19, were too scared to provide statements to police about their ordeal - meaning detectives had to use DNA evidence and mobile phone data to bring Alford, Karemera and Wabelua to justice.

The investigation, code-named Operation Pibera, began in 2014.

In that year, police arrested Alford in Winchester prison for conspiracy to supply class A and human trafficking. A search warrant was executed at Waddon Hall, Petham where had lived, and two years later, he was charged with intentionally arranging/facilitating travel within the UK of a person with a view to their exploitation.

The drugs offence case was dealt with first and Alford was slapped with an 11-year sentence.

The trafficking case was then tried in January 2018, but the jury were discharged following the close of the prosecution case.

Following a successful ruling through the Court of Appeal, the case came back to trial this year and Alford was at last convicted yesterday.

Tim Champion, from the National County Lines Coordination Centre, said: “Exploiting vulnerable children in this way is unacceptable and individuals who do this will be prioritised and find themselves additionally convicted of human trafficking offences, which are often subject to long prison sentences.

“The issue of county lines is very complex and brings together deep-rooted criminal behaviour, such as gang membership, drugs supply, drug abuse and human trafficking."

Alford will be sentenced for the trafficking offences on Tuesday, May 14.

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