A COUPLE who bought a caravan, motorbike and a jet ski from the profits of a £66,000 drug dealing business have been jailed for a total of more than 13 years.

James Martin and Kelly Woodward carried on selling heroin and cocaine despite being busted seven times and having tens of thousands of pounds of cash and drugs seized.

The couple from Heathfield, Newton Abbot, relocated their operation to a caravan at a pub on the edge of Dartmoor but police traced them and raided them for the last time.

Unemployed asphalter Martin and his girlfriend Woodward had no legitimate income but were building an extension to their home and spent £6,000 customising a car.

They had already been caught drug dealing and were on suspended sentences but carried on as if nothing had happened.

They recruited customer Paul Willis as delivery man, taking drugs to vulnerable users all over South Devon.

They were caught with drugs with a total street value of £66,000 and messages on their phones showed they were dealing on a large scale. One text from Martin said ‘we can’t afford to lose business’.

Martin, aged 46, and Woodward, aged 36, both of Lower Cannon Road, Heathfield, and Willis, aged 41, of Templar Way, Bovey Tracey, all admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine.

Martin and Woodward also admitted possession with intent to supply and possessing criminal property, Willis admitted possession of heroin.

Martin was jailed for seven years, Woodward for six years and three months, and Willis for six years by Judge David Evans at Exeter Crown Court.

He told them: ‘This was, on any view, a significant operation which carried on after Martin and Woodward received suspended sentences at this court.

‘They worked together at their home to bag up and supply drug users in £10, £20 and larger deals. Willis worked for them as the actual deliverer, taking them to customers.

‘The rewards from this long illegal activity were significant, as can be seen from the seized cash, personal possessions and the state of their household.’

Miss Mary McCarthy said Willis was stopped carrying drugs twice during 2018 and drugs were found at his home. 

The Heathfield house was raided and £11,575 cash and £24,000 worth of drugs seized. Police also found a custom car, motorcycle, and jetski.

The couple were raided again in October in a caravan behind the Dartmoor Halfway Inn, near Ashburton, where £9,600 cash was found in a safe and £27,000 of drugs seized.

Mr Paul Dentith, Mr Paul Grumbar, and Mr William Parkhill, defending, said all three had been drawn into drug dealing through their own addiction.

They had all tried to overcome it over the years and have started to make progress since their arrests.

They had not been at the top of the chain of supply and photos taken at Willis’s home showed he had been living in a degree of squalor rather than in the lap of luxury.

Martin and Woodward both received 18-month suspended sentences at Exeter Crown Court in 2017 after a case which arose from two raids on their home and two arrests of Woodward when she was delivering drugs by moped.