TWO years ago, a ‘puppet master’ and his drugs lieutenants were found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine in bulk to be sold on the streets of Worcester.

‘Puppet master’ Mohammed Nasar, his son Aaqib Nasar, Robert Degaris and Steven Binning were all found guilty of the cocaine conspiracy after a four- week trial at Worcester Crown Court.

There was a sombre, subdued reaction in the dock and gasps from the packed public gallery when the unanimous guilty verdicts were delivered by the foreman of the jury.

The jury, made up of seven men and five women, retired to consider its verdict and returned to continue its deliberations.

Before the jury returned Judge Robert Juckes QC had asked for ‘decorum’ from the public gallery after a mobile phone was dropped on the ceiling of the dock the previous day.

Police officers and security staff were also brought into the public gallery once the note from the jury arrived.

The jury took four hours and 55 minutes to reach verdicts and some observers ran from the court after the verdicts came in.

Mohammed Nasar, aged 50, of Keswick Drive, Warndon, Worcester was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to supply cocaine between January 1, 2015 and December 8, 2016 and a single count of conspiracy to transfer criminal property between January 1, 2015 and December 8, 2016.

Aaqib Nasar, aged 22, of Bath Road, Worcester, Robert Degaris, aged 48, of Popert Drive, Worcester, and Steven Binning, aged 35, of Audley Drive, Kidderminster were each found guilty of a single count of conspiracy to supply cocaine.

The prosecution was led by John Butterfield QC. In his opening he described Mohammed Nasar as the ‘puppet master’ who ‘pulled the strings’, organising the bulk selling of the class A drug to the Ashley James gang.

The James syndicate, via middle men and street dealers, then sold the cocaine on to addicts and users.

READ MORE: CRIME FILES: When young hooligans terrorised Tolladine residents

READ MORE: CRIME FILES: When ‘killer clown’ craze swept Worcestershire

Members of the James gang had already stood convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine following a trial which finished in November 2017 and part of the prosecution case was the links between both conspiracies, one a buying and the other a selling network in the chain.

Mr Butterfield described the gang as ‘peddling the misery of drugs to line their own pockets’.

Degaris and Binning both acted as drugs couriers at different stages of the conspiracy while Aaqib Nasar wore ‘the captain’s armband’, meeting Ashley James while his dad was away on a course in Derby.

The case involved a wide range of evidence including call logs showing contact between the conspirators and cell site analysis which placed them at specific locations at key times during the conspiracy.

Automatic numberplate recognition cameras for vehicles, CCTV footage, police surveillance observations, DNA evidence and clandestine recordings from a bugged van also featured.

Part of this conspiracy involving Mohammed Nasar and Robert Degaris was linked to another conspiracy led by Ashley James and also involving Jamie Jones,Todd Porter, David Warren, Chris Cornes and Marcus Henney.

Judge Juckes remanded all four defendants in custody, adding: “The time for bail has now passed because all these defendants face significant custodial sentences.”

The gang was handed sentences totalling 53 years.

To keep up-to-date with the latest crime stories in your area, join our Worcestershire Crime Updates Facebook page.