Leeds-based drug trafficker who brought cocaine into Lincoln as part of £360,000 conspiracy jailed after evading justice in America and Europe

A drug trafficker who repeatedly brought cocaine into the county has been jailed for 12-and-half years.

Joshua Hylton, 29, was arrested and extradited from Holland after he failed to attend his trial at Lincoln Crown Court in June 2023.

Hylton, formerly of Leeds, finally appeared at Lincoln Crown Court on July 8 and admitted a charge of conspiring to supply class A drugs between May 2021 and February 2022.

A sentence hearing at Lincoln Crown Court was today (Tuesday, September 24) told Hylton spent a year living in America and Europe before he was arrested earlier this summer.

The court heard Hylton was the ‘upstream supplier’ of cocaine from West Yorkshire to the Lincoln area and

had substantial links to other conspirators in the city.

In total Hylton made nine trips to Lincoln himself, with the whole conspiracy involving 72 journeys between the two areas, the court heard.

The court was told Hylton had already spent 43 days in an overseas jail before his extradition to the UK.

In mitigation the court heard Hylton held a responsible job with British Telecom as a young man but then became addicted to cocaine and ran up debts to his suppliers.

A number of references were handed to the court which showed Hylton had previously made a positive contribition to his local community and was a good father.

Passing sentence Judge Simon Hirst said a minimum of five kilos of cocaine was involved in the overall conspiracy with a street value of £360,000.

"You were one of the principal conspirators in supplying cocaine from West Yorkshire to Lincolnshire, that ended up on the streets of Lincoln," Judge Hirst told Hylton.

"You spent about a year in America and some time in Europe before being arrested and extradited.

"I therefore find it difficult to accept you were a present father."