Cocaine dealer who fled before sentencing is jailed after a police drone spotted him FISHING at Skegness caravan park

Published 4 November 2026, 17:13

• Worksop dealer Jake Hawkins, 31, received three years and nine months in prison the day after he was caught.
• Officers who raided his home found scales dusted with white powder, drug deal bags and three Rolex watches.
• Messages on his phone showed him arranging to buy cocaine in wholesale quantities to sell on.

A cocaine dealer who walked out of his own sentencing hearing was hunted down by a police drone that caught him fishing at a caravan park, and was jailed the following day.

Jake Hawkins, 31, of Milton Drive, Worksop, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs — namely cocaine — and was sentenced to three years and nine months at Nottingham Crown Court on 29 October 2026, according to a Nottinghamshire Police press release.

Hawkins had been due to be sentenced at the same court on 16 October 2026 but left the building before the hearing concluded that afternoon.

The court issued a bench warrant for his arrest.

Intelligence work led officers to a caravan park in Skegness, Lincolnshire, where Lincolnshire Police colleagues deployed a drone that filmed Hawkins fishing.

Officers from the Bassetlaw Neighbourhood Policing Team arrested him on 28 October 2026, and he was back before a judge the next day.

The original investigation had identified Hawkins as a suspected drug supplier in the Worksop area.

On 4 March 2024, neighbourhood officers executed a warrant at his home on Milton Drive and seized scales bearing white powder residue, deal bags containing drug remnants, and three Rolex watches.

At the same time, a separate team of officers searched Hawkins' business unit in Worksop, arrested him there, and seized his mobile phone.

Analysis of the phone revealed a series of damning communications linking Hawkins to various contacts, among them plans to purchase cocaine in bulk for further distribution, according to the Nottinghamshire Police press release.

Speaking about the case, Bassetlaw district commander Inspector Rob Harrison said: "We recovered clear evidence showing Hawkins was involved in the serious supply of Class A drugs, including drug paraphernalia and items we recovered from his address and conversations found on his phone."

"We know Class A drugs ruin the lives of very vulnerable people in our communities and, as our work in this case demonstrates, we will continue to take robust action to target those involved in the supply of illegal drugs and use all available resources to disrupt drug-related criminality," he added.

"Those involved in dealing drugs will face the strongest possible enforcement action," Harrison said.

"They can expect to be firmly dealt with and put before the courts to face the consequences."