Woman jailed for role in drugs conspiracy to supply cocaine in Bucks which also involved Milton Keynes man

A woman has been jailed for her role in a conspiracy to supply class A drugs across Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Wiltshire.

Previously, a man from Milton Keynes was convicted of drug dealing offences which were linked to this case.

Sophie Plowman, 28, formerly of Songthrush Road in Banbury, was convicted of conspiring to supply cocaine in three UK counties.

Thames Valley Police uncovered the wrongdoing after launching Operation Sedate.

Six other convictions have been made in connection to the investigation.

Police say Plowman’s conviction is linked to a larger Organised Crime Group (OCG) officers have been tracking.

The 28-year-old was found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine after a seven-day trial.

Today (23 January), Plowman was sentenced to five years in jail.

On 2 February last year, Patrick Gray, 44, formerly of Radford Close, Oxford, and Mohammed Ali, 51, formerly of Chervil, Milton Keynes, were found guilty of the same offences following a trial.

Lewis Court, 37, formerly of Cuddesdon Way, Oxford; Richard Gray, 33, formerly of Barley Court, Witney; William White, 36, of no fixed abode; and Jamie Shepherd-Smith, 33, formerly of Bramling Cross, Kingston Bagpuize, had also pleaded guilty to the same offences.

Five of them were sentenced to a combined total of 73 years and eight months in prison in July 2022, while Shepherd-Smith was jailed for seven years and two months in October.

Between 1 September 2020 and 26 May 2021, the group conspired to distribute drugs across three separate counties.

Operation Sedate was launched specifically to investigate this OCG, run by Richard and Patrick Gray following intelligence received that the brothers were involved in the supply of cocaine.

Police used information gathered from EncroChat to discover the conspiracy.

Operation Venetic is the police’s response to crimes being organised via encrypted devices.

Through this operation police discovered a package for the ‘Encro handle’ Cheetahsoda, which was attributed to Richard Gray.

Officers went found out that Richard Gray and others travelled to Lancashire to purchase drugs.

These drugs were then returned to Oxfordshire where they were stored at Plowman’s house.

After obtaining search warrants Thames Valley Police seized more than 2.8kg of cocaine and 18.3 grams of crack cocaine, and £158,000 in cash.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Gavin Toney, of the Serious Organised Crime Unit, said: “Sophie Plowman may have played a lesser role than other members of this OCG, but any involvement in drug supply is a serious offence, and she has now been sentenced accordingly.

“Those convicted brought large quantities of class A drugs into the Thames Valley.

“We will never tolerate this, and we will proactively and robustly pursue and prosecute offenders, and our activity will be both visible and covert to ensure that the harm brought into our communities by organised crime groups is removed.”