Hotel drugs dealing pair guilty

Two men have been convicted of setting up a drugs den in a Kent hotel.

Maidstone Crown Court heard how Darren Ramsey, 27, and Crispin Siddon, 20, checked into a room at Gillingham's King Charles Hotel in June 2004.

Armed with mobile phones the men, both from south east London, used the room as the base for their drug dealing.

Siddon was given three years' youth custody while Ramsey, who is on the run from the police, was given three years three months in jail in his absence.

Firearms offences

The pair were arrested by police after their activities in the hotel room - which included swapping clothes in an attempt to disguise themselves - aroused the suspicion of hotel staff.

Crack cocaine and heroin were found in the room.

Siddon, of St Norbert Road, Brockley, and Ramsey, formerly of Philip Walk, Peckham, had denied two charges of possessing Class A drugs with intent.

At the time of the offence Ramsey was on licence after serving six years in prison for firearms offences.

He has been on the run from police since May and if caught will have to serve his sentence on top of almost three and a half years remaining of his licence period.