A former magistrate who was a key member of a criminal network dealing drugs in London has been jailed for seven years.
Purshotam Dhillon, 59, a serving court magistrate at the time of his arrest, allowed his position to be used to facilitate the operation of a criminal gang that operated multiple drug lines and distributed drugs worth over a hundred thousand pounds.
Officers discovered Dhillon had allowed a van which contained substantial quantities of heroin to be parked outside his house in Hounslow, west London– and allowed drugs to be weighed out and packaged inside.
Dhillon, who lived in Lampton Avenue, was a self-confessed drug addict and found during the police probe to also store cash and equipment for the gang.
“As a serving magistrate, Dhillon abused a position of trust in the most serious way. This case demonstrates that no-one is above the law, and those who engage in criminality will be held accountable," Detective Inspector Mark Gavin, from the Met’s Specialist Crime, said.
Dhillon was among four "key members" of the criminal enterprise who were together sentenced to a total of 25 years in prison on Thursday.
They included leader Hardeep Thind, also known as Harry Singh, of Wentworth Road, Southall, who was sentenced to 12 years and six months in jail.
Footage released by the Metropolitan Police shows the moment Dhillon was arrested on a bed at this home and Thind was arrested in a car.
The gang was dismantled by a Met investigation that began in January 2024 in which the Met Police team dedicated to tackling London drugs lines identified a highly active drugs line known as “Hadi”, responsible for distributing heroin and crack cocaine to a large customer base across west London.
The street value of drugs seized throughout the whole operation was around £174,000.
Detectives analysed phone data which revealed extensive communication between members of a wider network, with Thind the central figure.
At the time, Thind was serving a 17-year sentence in prison for conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine, as well as possession of a prohibited automatic weapon, namely a Skorpion submachine gun.
Despite being in custody, Thind – who was being held in an open prison and had access to a mobile phone – continued to direct and coordinate the drugs network with the use of a burner phone.
Following his release in October 2024, Thind resumed his criminal activity – expanding the operation and recruiting several dealers in the Hayes and Southall area – and it wasn’t long before he came to police attention again. Evidence showed he maintained contact with all key members and coordinated activity across multiple drug lines.
Two others were also jailed as part of the sentencing on Thursday.
Bikramjit Brar, 46, of Nestles Avenue, Hayes who held and distributed drugs on behalf of the network, was jailed for three years and four months.
Leandrea Lynch, 49, of Dawley Road, Hayes was sentenced to two years and six months suspended for the same length of time.
On Thursday, 3 July 2025, all four defendants were charged with being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs, with further offences including possession with intent to supply and possession of an offensive weapon.
Singh and Brar pleaded guilty to two counts each of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs, namely cocaine and heroin, while Dhillon and Lynch were convicted of the same offences by unanimous verdicts on Friday, 8 May following a trial at Croydon Crown Court. Thind's sentence also included dangerous driving.
Two other men who pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply and being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs were sentenced at Croydon Crown Court in July 2025.
