Drug boss in knife murder and his gang jailed for nearly 60 years

A JUDGE yesterday handed sentences totalling almost 60 years to a gang of five people involved in a drug enterprise which led to a fatal stabbing.

Damian Taff, a father of two, was murdered outside a drug den in Swanbourne Road, in the Parson Cross area of Sheffield last year.

Last night Benjamin Grant, 31, of Follet Road, Parson Cross, was given a life sentence and ordered to serve a minimum of 27 years for the murder on September 1 2010.

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He will also serve nine-and-a-half years concurrent for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

Grant and his four associates, who were also given jail terms, were convicted at Sheffield Crown Court late last month.

Yesterday Ryan Wood, 30, of Liberty Place, Stannington, received six years for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

Antonio Anderson, 32, of Tideswell Road, Parson Cross, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years for the same offence and 15 months for perverting the course of justice, to run consecutively.

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Emily Sanderson, 38, of Swanbourne Road, Parson Cross, received seven years for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, plus 18 months consecutive for perverting the course of justice.

A 28-year-old woman, Helen Thomas, of Follet Road, Shiregreen, was jailed for nine months for perverting the course of justice. She provided an alibi for Grant.

Mr Taff, of Margate Drive, Grimesthorpe, Sheffield, died after he was stabbed in Swanbourne Road in the early hours.

The court heard he had become involved in an incident with a drug den customer and was killed by Grant, who operated the complex set-up, which saw addicts enter a cubicle electronically and receive drugs via a pipe in the wall – all monitored by CCTV.

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Mr Taff apparently told officers Grant had stabbed him before he died at the scene.

Detective Superintendent Lisa Ray, who led the enquiry, said last night: “An extremely violent man has been removed from our streets for a very long time and people who have been full-time drug dealers, preying on vulnerable members of the community, have also been given substantial prison sentences.”

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