Rapper Nines jailed for importing 28kg of cannabis

British rapper Nines has been jailed for importing 28kg of cannabis into the UK from Spain and Poland.

The chart-topping musician, real name Courtney Freckleton, 31, and Jason Thompson, 35, were both given 28-month sentences.

Sentencing them both at Harrow Crown Court, Judge Rosa Dean said: "What a waste of all of that talent, to be sat in Wormwood Scrubs."

Last year, Nines topped the UK album chart with his record Crabs In A Bucket and was named best hip hop act the Mobo Awards.

The court heard the pair had been involved in one successful bid to import the class B drug, while another attempt had also been made.

Prosecutor Genevieve Reed said the money laundering charge related to a £98,000 debt, the value of the drugs, and the use of Bitcoin to buy the cannabis.

Some of the cannabis was imported inside boilers brought into the UK from Poland, the court heard.

Nines, of Barbican, central London, and Thompson, of Barnet, north London, were arrested in June after police raids across London and Borehamwood in Hertfordshire.

The operation is understood to have stemmed from the infiltration of encrypted messaging service Encrochat.

The network, which was used by thousands of criminals worldwide, was infiltrated by authorities last year after being hacked by French investigators.

Father-of-two Nines, who was known as "Big Boss" by his fellow conspirators, had previously been imprisoned for 18 months for possession of cannabis with intent to supply.