A GANG of men who were involved in a scheme to flood the streets of Atherton and Leigh with more than £750,000 of cocaine and heroin have been jailed.

Bolton Crown Court heard that the gang, consisting of Declan Prescott, 24, Jake Muldoon, 23, Nathan Rutter, 21, Jamie Ashcroft, 21 and Rhys Jones, 22 was involved in a narcotics enterprise which generated as much as £2,000 per day over a year-and-a-half period.

The group each admitted to being involved in a conspiracy to supply the two drugs during this timeframe.

Mark Kellett, prosecuting, told how the ring leader of the group was Muldoon, with others operating below him to supply drugs, acting with the expectation of making a substantial financial gain.

The court heard how Prescott once lost £5,000 worth of drugs and had to repay Muldoon.

But when he went to pay off a part of this debt Prescott was stabbed multiple times in the head during an attack in November 2019.

Muldoon is currently serving a nine-year jail sentence for the attack on his victim.

The same month of the attack his then-address was searched and police found 50 wraps of crack cocaine and a further 150 deals of heroin.

He even continued orchestrating his drug dealing after he was remanded in custody at Forest Bank prison, the court was told.

Mr Kellett said that police approached Prescott in a Jaguar in August 2018 on Wigan Road in Leigh.

But he sped off as officers came near, driving the vehicle dangerously. When Prescott was caught officers recovered 14 wraps of heroin and 12 of cocaine and Prescott threatened to “chop up” police.

In February the following year he was spotted again in Leigh, the court heard.

But he again sped off in his car, again hitting 70 miles per hour in 30mph speed zones and careering through red lights. When caught on this occasion he was found with 18 wraps of heroin and £210 in cash.

Prescott also carried out two robberies to pay off his debts to Muldoon, the court was told./

Mr Kellett said that in May 2019 Prescott, along with another, carried out the robbery of a convenience store on Richmond Road in Leigh, fleeing with £400 in cash and £100 worth of cigarettes.

And in September the same year, this time on Wigan Road in Leigh, he attacked the driver of a vehicle and stole his Ford Transit van.

The court heard in April 2019 Rutter was involved in a road crash in Leigh while driving a Volvo but then ran off.

Mr Kellett said the defendant was pursued by police and officers found he had phones which showed he had been in contact with Ashcroft about dealing.

Passing sentence, Recorder Sarah Johnston said: “Those who spend time in these courts will know the horrific impact drug dealing has on people’s lives, destroying relationships and blighting communities, crimes are committed by those in desperate efforts to feed their addiction.”

Muldoon, of no fixed abode, was ordered to serve six-and-a-half years at the end of his current sentence.

Rutter, of Wigan Road, Leigh, was jailed for five years and banned from the roads for five years and six months.

Prescott, of Tower Grove, Leigh, was jailed for six years and nine months and banned from the roads for five years and four months.

Ashcroft, of Keble Grove, Leigh, was jailed for six years and Rhys Jones, of Railway Road, Leigh, received a three year and six month prison sentence.