A Detective Constable has received a Chief Constable's Commendation for his investigation into two complex drug conspiracy cases in Barrow, ultimately resulting in the convictions of all defendants put before court.

Detective Constable Graeme Benson was the officer in the case for Op Fashion - a complex, three-defendant cocaine dealing conspiracy in Barrow and Op Frozen - an even more complex, 10-defendant County Lines crack cocaine and heroin deal conspiracy which trafficked Class A drugs between Manchester and Barrow.

The Op Frozen County Line was valued by a drug expert as supplying more than £110,000 worth of drugs in Barrow over a four-month period, with a total weight of Class A drugs (crack cocaine and heroin) of more than 1kg.

Op Fashion was particularly challenging as the defendants were determined to try and mislead the court. This included one managing to secure bail by lying about an infant son being in intensive care. Det Con Benson investigated this claim and proved it to be false.

The defendant in question was convicted of perverting the course of justice and received a 30-month prison sentence for this offence before ultimately being sentenced to more than seven years in prison for his drug supply offending.

Co-defendants were also sentenced for drug supply - one to 11 years and another to seven-and-a-half years.

Detective Superintendent Jenny Beattie said: "Detective Constable Benson's work on both of these cases received praise from both the Crown Prosecution Service and a judge - and is now, rightly, being recognised by the Constabulary with a Chief Constable's Commendation.

"Detective Constable Benson has demonstrated remarkable tenacity and thoroughness in his investigations - both in these cases and many more. His efforts have brought a significant number of people who prey on the vulnerable in Barrow to justice, seeing them receive significant prison sentences at Crown Court.

"His work helps the Constabulary to demonstrate how Cumbria is far from a soft touch for those who seek to come here to illegally profit from the misery of others."