Fugitive drug dealer brought back to UK to face justice

A fugitive drug dealer is behind bars after being brought back to the UK to face justice.

Peter Hudson was sentenced to 14 years in prison after convicted in his absence of being concerned in the supply of cocaine in August 2023.

Hudson, now 28, absconded before his trial at Durham Crown Court and is believed to have fled to Dubai. However, earlier this week he was arrested in Belgium and, after being detained in Brussels for 40 days, was extradited back to the UK to face court.

On Tuesday, he appeared before Teesside Crown Court where he was sent to prison to start the sentence he was given two years ago. He was also sentenced to an extra 40 days after admitting an offence under the Bail Act of failure to attend court.

Hudson had been under investigation since 2020 when he was stopped with £6,000 in his car. A subsequent search of his house in West Cornforth found another £8,000 and a cash counting machine.

Forensic analysis of his phone revealed that Hudson had been trading several kilograms of cocaine at a time on the EncroChat network using the handle Boxer-Rapid.

He was charged with being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs and was due to attend Durham Crown Court to surrender his passport, but failed to appear and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

A spokesman for Durham Constabulary said: “We will be relentless in our pursuit of criminals who bring misery to our communities.

“Hudson first thought he could conceal his drug dealing and then, once he had been arrested, thought he could outrun the consequences.

“He was wrong and both counts – and he now has 14 years in prison to reflect on just how wrong he was.

“As this case hopefully shows, Durham Constabulary will always do everything in our power to stop and disrupt those supplying Class A drugs no matter how long that takes.”