County Lines ‘Line holder’ sentenced to five years and six months behind bars

Kye Hardy-King, 28 of Lela Avenue in Hounslow has been sentenced to five years and six months in prison after being identified as the organiser of a major county lines drug line.

The ‘Tommy’ line was responsible for dealing crack cocaine and heroin to vulnerable users in North Surrey.

Hardy- King was arrested on 16 June this year in Hounslow after being identified as a key figure in county lines drug dealing by covert work carried out by Surrey Police and the Metropolitan Police Service. Two mobile phones on his possession were seized and forensic work revealed outstanding evidence to suggest that Hardy-King had been involved in multiple drug deals over a period of months. The court heard how Hardy-King would manipulate and order ‘runners’ to deliver drugs for him.

He was charged with being concerned with the supply of cocaine and being concerned with the supply of heroin.

He appeared at Kingston Crown Court on Thursday, 27 December where he pleaded guilty to all charges. Evidence was also heard against Hardy-King for a Met Police investigation where he had been charged with smuggling drugs into prison via a drone. He was sentenced to five years and six months in total for all charges.

Investigating Officer PC Katherine Stevens said “This is another positive sentence in Surrey and the Met’s move to tackle county lines drug dealing.

“A lot of work went into identifying Hardy-King as the orchestrator of the Tommy Line but this is the sort of covert work that goes every day. Drug dealers such as Hardy-King think they are invincible, but we have a robust team working hard to catch up with county lines drug contributors and hold them to account for their actions.

We rely on members of the public so much when it comes to tackling serious organised crime. You may think that things such as the smell of weed or a property having lots of visitors late at night isn’t worth reporting, but this helps us build a bigger picture of what’s going on. We can assure you that all reports are taken seriously and although it may appear as if they aren’t actioned right away, this intelligence allows us to orchestrate warrants such as these.

The impact of drugs networks in our communities can be devastating and leads to knock-on effects such as anti-social behaviour, violence and an increase in burglaries which is why the onus to report lies with us all.