Runaway drug dealer extradited from Thailand

A drug dealer who fled to Thailand before his trial was due to begin has been extradited back to the UK and jailed.

Luke Atkin was handed a ten-year prison sentence in his absence for his role in a drugs gang that supplied "huge amounts" of cocaine in York and Tadcaster after he left the UK ahead of court proceedings.

Atkin, 37, of Warrington, Cheshire, was arrested in Thailand in connection to a separate incident and for overstaying a visa and subsequently deported, North Yorkshire Police said.

At Bradford Crown Court, four months were added to his original prison term for failing to surrender.

The court heard Atkin made regular trips to North Yorkshire to meet other members of an organised crime group and deal drugs during 2022 and 2023.

The force's organised crime unit seized a "huge haul" of cocaine worth more than £50,000 on two separate occasions, including a kilo of it found in ringleader Gavin Tuohey's backpack.

Gang members were jailed in October after they all admitted conspiring to supply Class A drugs.

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