A member of a County Lines drug dealing gang who threatened to throw acid in the face of one of its runners’ mums has been jailed for six years.
James Sunderland, 56, was a member of the Pattern Gang which sold drugs in Sussex using a network of mobile phones.
One of the people who bought drugs from them was coerced into selling drugs for them after running up debts.
Sunderland went on to threaten his mother over the same debts, forcing her to take out loans and borrow money from family members to pay the debt off so that she and her family did not come to any physical harm.
The woman first noticed Sunderland, who she knew as Jay Jay, when he called at her home and hung around outside.
The woman felt so threatened by Sunderland, she installed CCTV cameras outside her home and keep fire extinguishers by the door as she feared her house maybe burned down by Sunderland and his associates.
As well as paying Sunderland through a payment plan, Sunderland demanded cash on several occasions. The victim accompanied the family member to meet Sunderland in Battle to pay him and he threatened her family member and told the individual to get into the boot of his car.
She told Sunderland she would report him to the police and he then threatened her telling her he would throw acid in her face and she would never see her family member again.
The woman’s family member was also assaulted in the face on another occasion when Sunderland was allegedly present and she stated that between May and October 2023, Sunderland had attended her home address between 20 to 40 times where he would wait outside and linger around and would repeatedly phone the family member.
After the case, Detective Sergeant Jason Tuck said: “Sunderland menaced the victim and her family member threatening severe violence and putting them in extreme fear. He attended her home address multiple times to enforce the debt and collect payment.
“This case demonstrates the harm that county lines drug dealing causes to our communities and we will continue to investigate and endeavour to bring those offenders like Sunderland who are involved in this harm and criminality to justice.”
This month, he was found guilty of a single charge of blackmail by a jury at Brighton Crown Court.
Sunderland, 56, previously of Merrimede Close, St Leonards, was sentenced to six years in prison.
The court was told that throughout 2023 Sussex police detectives had been investigating the Pattern Gang drug line where there have been multiple warrants executed in East Sussex following the line holders for the drug lines being identified.
