Prolific Bucks drug dealer handed extended sentence for building and running £11m amphetamine lab

Keith Davis, 56, from Chalfont Saint Giles, had his jail term extended following a further investigation into a major drugs operation.

His sentence was sent to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme by the then solicitor general Edward Timpson CBE KC MP.

The sentence was re-assessed alongside another person involved in the conspiracy, Andrew Gurney, 51, from Birmingham.

Gurney’s prison stay was also increased following the hearing.

Both were involved in a professional conspiracy to produce tons of amphetamine sulphate, a class B drug.

But Davis was also participating in further criminal activity.

They both helped with the construction and running of a Breaking Bad-esque laboratory that was capable of producing 136kg of amphetamine sulphate per week, meaning that around six tonnes of the drug with a wholesale value of £11m could have been produced when the building was operational.

Between June 2020 and April 2021 drugs were supplied from the laboratory.

On 10 June 2022, at Kingston upon Thames Crown Court, Davis was sentenced to five years and three months’ imprisonment for conspiracy to supply and produce a class B drug and conspiracy to transfer criminal property. Gurney was sentenced to six years and three months’ imprisonment for conspiracy to produce a class B drug and possession of criminal property.

Following the sentencing, the then solicitor general referred the sentences of both offenders to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme as he felt that they were too low.

Yesterday (21 September), the court found the sentences of both Davis and Gurney to be unduly lenient. Davis received a new sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment, while Gurney will now also serve a sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment.

Speaking after the hearing, the newly appointed solicitor general Michael Tomlinson MP said: “The illegal and dangerous drugs produced and supplied by both Davis and Gurney will have ruined lives, and so I am satisfied with the decision of the Court to order both offenders to serve longer prison terms.

“The new sentences are a better reflection of the seriousness of the crime of drug dealing and supplying at this level.”