FOURTEEN men and three women – including a number from Stratford district – have appeared in court, some via video links from prisons, over their alleged roles in a plot to supply heroin and crack cocaine.
It is alleged quantities of the two class A drugs originated in Wolverhampton and were then transported for supply in Stratford.
But at Warwick Crown Court most of those alleged to have been involved indicated through their barristers they would be denying the charges they face.
And amidst rowdy scenes from some of those in the dock, Judge Andrew Lockhart QC indicated that those in custody who plead not guilty will stand trial in November, following by a trial of those on bail in the spring of next year.
Among those appearing, on bail and sitting in front of the dock, were Vincenzo Bottone, 44, and Tabatha Hickman, 42, of the same address in Huxley Court, Stratford; Peter Goodwin, 42,of Honeybourne Road, Bidford; Terry Morris, 45, of Clopton Road, Stratford; and Stefan Edwards, 50, of South Green Drive, Stratford.
Those who appeared via a video link from HMP Hewell included William Wells, 43, of Lodge Road, Stratford.
On screen from Peterborough women’s jail were Kelly Traynor, 33, of Childs Close, Stratford; and one defendant not at court was James Kesterton, 33, of Brickfield Lane, Shipston, who had not been brought to the court and refused to appear via a video link.
All of the defendants from the Stratford didstrict area face charges of conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine on dates between September 2013 and earlier this month.
Most of the other defendents were from Wolverhampton.
Judge Lockhart set a date of November 2 for the four-week trial to begin.
