A DATE has been set for the trial of four men who were arrested for an alleged £200,000 cocaine supply conspiracy in a Devon village.

Lester Purdy, aged 66, his son Jake, aged 25, and two other men were arrested on May 11 after a police operation at a house in Ide, near Newton Abbot, and woodlands close to the village.

Police swooped on the detached rented property in Station Road, which is owned by the Church of England, during an alleged hand-over of drugs.

Further supplies of cocaine were allegedly recovered from woods near the Foxhole area of Exeter. In all around two kilos of cocaine and more than £30,000 cash were seized.

Lester and Jake Purdy, both of Station Road, Ide, did not enter pleas. They are both charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine between February 17 and May 12 this year.

They are also accused of conspiracy to launder cash over the same period. Lester Purdy is also accused of possession of cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis on May 11.

Trevor Forbes, aged 58, of Brasenose Driftway, Oxford, and Julian Eslick, aged 46, of Cliff Bastin Close, Exeter, both denied conspiracy to supply cocaine. Eslick also denied the money laundering conspiracy and possession of heroin.

Forbes admitted conspiracy to transfer cash which he knew to be the proceeds of crime.

Judge David Evans adjourned all their cases for a trial at Exeter Crown Court on February 1, 2021. He granted Jake Purdy bail and remanded all the other defendants in custody. 

All those in custody appeared by video link from Exeter Prison.

Mr Robert Yates, prosecuting, said inquiries including analysis of mobile phone data and a financial investigation are continuing.