A KENDAL criminal jailed for his role in a class A drugs supply plot has been ordered to pay back £10,000 in ill-gotten gains.

Jonathan Calvert, 32, was one of four men handed immediate prison terms totalling almost 15 years, in September 2017, for conspiring to supply cocaine and heroin.

Long-term heroin user Calvert was said to have played a lesser role in an illegal enterprise which saw £4,000 worth of drugs seized by Cumbria Constabulary as part of Operation Quadrant.

This operation targeted organised crime groups travelling to south Cumbria for the sole purpose of supplying Class A controlled drugs.

Carlisle Crown Court heard Calvert sold illicit substances near his Stricklandgate home and allowed that property to be used as a base by Merseyside-based crooks higher up the criminal chain of command.

Police set about clawing back illegally-obtained cash from the gang members. Earlier this year, three Liverpool-based men were found to have benefited from their criminal conduct to the tune of £41,400. They were ordered to hand over just £1 apiece after it was concluded they had no assets.

At the crown court today (FRI), it emerged Calvert's ill-gotten gains amounted to £10,000. And Recorder Kevin Grice heard the defendant's available assets matched that figure.

Calvert, who was not in court for the short hearing, was ordered by Recorder Grice to pay back £10,000 within four months, or face a six-month prison sentence in default.