Bury decorator made cannabis after spotting member of major gang's growing equipment

Nicholas Wilson, of Wood Street, St Annes, and Phillip Peters, 41, of Edward Tyler Road, London, were sentenced yesterday, Tuesday, for their part in the operation, which aimed to flood East Lancashire’s streets with millions of pounds worth of class A and B drugs.

Wilson, 40, had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cannabis at a hearing in August last year, while Peters pleaded guilty to the same charge on day two of his trial earlier this year. 

A third man, Lee Booth, of Holcombe Road, Greenmount, was also sentenced after pleading guilty to producing cannabis, but did not play any part in the wider organised crime racket, which was investigated by police under the guise of Operations Angler and Wimbledon between 2020 and 2021 and resulted in 23 people being charged in June last year. 

Booth, 36, who has no previous convictions, was handed a high level community order at Preston Crown Court and told to pay a £250 fine. 

He was not involved in the organised crime group's importing and exporting, or in supplying, but rather became embroiled in the enterprise after stumbling upon some growing equipment while doing some work in a house in Harwood Street, Darwen, which belonged to one of the gang members.

Deciding to give growing cannabis a go for himself, for his own personal use, Booth was caught producing the drug and was charged alongside the rest of the organised crime group.

Judge Guy Mathieson said: "You are a man who is hard working, who is a husband and has a child. It seems you were unwinding in the evening by smoking cannabis.

"All these people who say, 'well what's wrong with having a joint instead of a G&T?', the answer is simple, a G&T isn't illegal, cannabis is.

"You came across Harwood Street and thought you could smoke and grow in secret here. The problem is, if you do this you know you'll end up in a criminal court.

"And you are now involved, strangely, in a multi-million pound importation business.

"You might say, 'oh that's not me, I just grew plants'. But you didn't do a very good job of it and it led to you becoming involved in this with other people."

The criminal gang, headed up by Zac Deaffern and Sam Stone, both from Darwen, imported heroin, amphetamine, cocaine and cannabis, from several European countries, including from a business called "Weed Base" in Italy and from Slovakia, into a mill in Hollins Grove, before distributing it across East Lancashire and the North West.

A consignment of 80kg of cannabis bound for Darwen was seized by border control in Dover in March 2021, 10kg was found in a mill in Darwen, while another package was intercepted at East Midlands Airport, with a total of 400kg of cannabis seized across the entire police operation. 

Preston Crown Court heard on Tuesday how Wilson had been seen on CCTV entering the premises in Darwen on at least three occasions and leaving with large quantities of cannabis intended for onward supply.

He was arrested on April 21, 2021.

Nicholas Wilson

Prosecuting, William Beardmore said: "He collected cannabis on several occasions.

"On February 1, 2021, he attended the unit and met with Sam Stone and seven boxes were loaded into a van and driven away.

"It's impossible on the evidence to precisely quantify the amount he took away overall but the Crown can say it was a substantial amount across several occasions.

"He must have been sufficiently trusted by Stone to be invited into the heart of the enterprise they were running.

"He was not involved in the importing of the drugs but was involved with large amounts over a number of weeks."

Mitigating for Wilson, Shufqat Khan said his client was only involved with the operation for a number of weeks, as a collector of cannabis rather than a member of the organised criminal gang. 

He said: "His role was performing a limited function under direction from others and he had little or no influence on those above him in the chain."

Wilson has two previous convictions for drugs conspiracies dating back to 2011 and 2015 and was in breach of a suspended sentence for harassment when he was arrested for these offences.

He was handed three years and four months in jail. 

Judge Guy Mathieson said: "You were seen arriving and collecting on three occasions large quantities of cannabis for onward supply.

"The people you were involved with were an organised professionally run criminal group, it's clear by the amount of people involved that it was a conspiracy.

"It's accepted that you were collecting for another group, but you knew who you were collecting from and who you were collecting for - you knew exactly what you were doing by entering the premises and inspecting the cannabis and then delivering it back to another group.

"I do not accept that you had a lesser role."

Philip Peters

The court also heard how Peters, who had a storage unit in Eltham, London, was contacted by a member of the gang, Dexter Ryan, on March 10 last year, who asked him to store a large amount of cannabis in his unit, which was being imported from Italy and destined for Darwen.

Peters was paid £1,000 for his trouble but the cannabis was intercepted by Border Force on the same day, before it could reach its interim destination in Eltham, a leafy district in south-east London.

Mr Beardmore told the court: "This was the most significant event within the conspiracy.

"Border Force officers stopped a van and on inspection found it contained a large amount of cannabis and was the third consignment from Italy for Dexter Ryan, which was destined for a company called Met Exchange, linked to Stone and Deaffern, but was to be stored in Peters' unit before being taken to Darwen.

"Peters submitted a basis of plea and said he played no role in the importing and had no involvement with the supply of the drugs, nor was he involved with the gang, except for the contact he had with Dexter Ryan and the Crown accepts that."

Andrew Alty, Peters' defence barrister, said his client had only agreed to help out as Dexter Ryan had told him the consignment was "CBD and THC compliant, and in fact it was only 0.6 per cent THC".

Mr Alty said: "His only contact with the group was in relation to this one day when he was asked by Dexter Ryan at the last minute to look after this consignment, and he accepted cash for it.

"He was told it was CBD and THC compliant; in other words, Dexter Ryan was telling him it was lawful, but the defendant accepts by his plea that it was not compliant.

"He did not however get significant financial gain from this."

Peters, who has no relevant convictions was jailed for two years and six months, but having already been in custody for 13 months and 16 days, will be freed in approximately six weeks. 

Judge Mathieson told Mr Alty: "I don't accept that Peters thought the consignment was lawful cannabis produce - it wasn't the Aldi version of the drug as opposed to the Waitrose version."

Turning to Peters, he added: "You may have thought you were doing Dexter Ryan a favour but you were paid £1,000 and you didn't bat an eyelid?

"He had you as his trusted lieutenant. Yes you were performing a limited role but it was an operational role to assist in the smooth transportation of the drugs."

The remaining defendants, including Deaffern, Stone and Ryan, will be sentenced at later dates.