Legal News
Three jailed for cocaine offences (21 December 2015)
Date: 21/12/2015
Liverpool Crown Court has sentenced three men a total of nearly 19 years in jail for conspiracy to supply cocaine.
Alistar Brady-Jacobs, 27, of Greenock Mews in Widnes, Lancashire was sentenced to eight years and six months in jail, while Steven Woods, 36, of Westminster Avenue in Bootle was sentenced to five years, after both were found guilty at trial. The jury took just 20 minutes to find the men guilty.
Neil Cannon, 30, of Larne Court in Widnes was handed a jail sentence of five years and four months after pleading guilty to the charge.
The court heard that the gang's drug dealing was discovered following a raid at a house in Leicester Street in Liverpool, where it is thought high purity cocaine was diluted with benzocaine to maximise profits.
Cannon and Brady-Jacobs had bought a quarter of a kilo of cocaine from a third party and Woods’ part in the conspiracy was to mix the cocaine with another substance and then store it at the house in Leicester Street.
The prosecution case was based around CCTV footage of Cannon buying the drugs and then returning to his vehicle, where Brady-Jacobs was waiting for him.
Text messages on Brady-Jones' phone also revealed his part in the transaction – the two men were to take the drugs back to Widnes with intent to dilute and then supply them.
Senior Crown Prosecutor with Mersey-Cheshire Crown Prosecution Service's Complex Casework Unit, Pascale Jones, worked on the case from the outset.
“The case presented by the defence in this trial left the jury unconvinced to the extent that it took them just 20 minutes to return guilty verdicts,” said Ms Jones.
“The drugs sold to Brady-Jacobs and Cannon consisted of 248g of high purity cocaine that they no doubt planned to dilute further to maximise their profits.
“Stephen Woods initially tried to keep his girlfriend out of the case – and then changed his mind and blamed her for storing a safe, which contained cash and drugs paraphernalia. The jury were not persuaded.
“Woods had been convicted in the Netherlands for transporting cocaine and the Dutch authorities helpfully supplied us with the judgment from that case, which we included as evidence of his bad character. His sentence was increased by six months because of this.
“The Crown Prosecution Service welcomes these substantial sentences.”
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