THE sister of football star Kieron Dyer has today been jailed for almost six years after pleading guilty to conspiring with others to supplying Class A drugs in Ipswich.

Helen Skene

THE sister of football star Kieron Dyer has today been jailed for almost six years after pleading guilty to conspiring with others to supplying Class A drugs in Ipswich.

Kirsha Dyer was jailed along with her boyfriend Maxwell Appah and their associates Simon Akakpo, Dare Salau, Pannick Nikuna and a teenager who cannot be named.

A seventh defendant Lewis Self, 28, of Wilding Road, Ipswich is to be sentenced at a later date.

Ipswich Crown Court heard that the defendants conspired to supply crack cocaine and heroin between February 1, 2007 and June 8, 2007.

Gillian Jones prosecuting, said Dyer, 20, of Bentley Road, Ipswich drove her associates to London to buy drugs and then brought the drugs back to Ipswich for sale in an operation known as “J” Business.

Dyer, Self, the unnamed teen and Nikuna, 21 of North Road, Edgware all pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply drugs.

Akakpo, 21 of Southend Road, Rainham, Essex, Appah, 22 and Salau, 22 both formerly of Canterbury Close, Ipswich, were found guilty on May 28 this year by a unanimous jury after their trial.

The court heard that Dyer was convicted of possessing heroin with intent to supply in February 2007 - when she was stopped driving a car which was a present from Kieron - and was sentenced to 50 weeks in jail but the term was suspended for two years. She admitted she had breached this sentence by offending again.

Judge David Goodin said: “In this conspiracy the prime movers were Salau, Akakpo and Appah.

“They moved between the suppliers in London and the suppliers in Ipswich in a motor car driven by Kirsha Dyer. Thereafter supplying the drugs on the streets with an operational business here in the town.”

He sentenced Salau, “the prime mover and leader of the conspiracy”, to eight years in prison.

Akakpo as “second in command” with a “marginally less active role” but with a previous record for supplying Class A drugs was sentenced to eight years.

Appah “a principle lieutenant” in the operation who was “an important and central player in the conspiracy” was jailed for seven years.

Judge Goodin said of Dyer: “You were a follower rather than a leader.”

But he said hers was a “central role”.

Dyer, who cried throughout the sentencing, was jailed for five years and the 50-week suspended sentence was activated to run consecutively.

Nikuna who had no previous convictions for drugs and was described as a “foot soldier” was jailed for four and a half years.

The unnamed teen, who already had three previous convictions for supplying Class A drugs, was also sentenced to four and a half years.