Merseyside drugs gang hid guns in tea-towel behind secret wall

A gang leader who enjoyed holidays in Turkey and Tenerife while controlling a cocaine supply worth about £900,000 has been jailed for 20 years.

Joshua Hayes, 34, was among 12 members imprisoned after police found three guns wrapped in a tea-towel inside a gap between two walls in a Merseyside flat.

His Mercedes car was bugged and the gang’s phones were tapped by police in a 15-month investigation called Operation Chess.

Merseyside Police said Hayes entrusted his “graft phone” with key associates so they could continue supplying the illegal drugs while he took foreign holidays.

The gang had a supply of about 9kg (20lbs) of cocaine, with the potential street supply being worth up to £900,000, a jury at Liverpool Crown Court heard.

After police tapped an audio device in Hayes’ car, they realised weapons had been hidden behind a false wall inside a flat.

They drilled through a newly plastered and redecorated area where they discovered three bags inside a tea-towel, with two containing a Skorpion submachine gun each and a pistol in the remaining package.

All three firearms had ammunition with them and one of the Skorpions had been used to kill people locally.

Police also found that 28-year-old James Harrison, operating under the pseudonym Budfellaz, had supplied more than 240kg (529lbs) of cannabis – with an estimated street value of between £2.4 and £3.7m – in a six-month period.

Officers also searched the home of 28-year-old Matthew Ball, where they found nearly 1kg (2.2lbs) of class A drugs.

Three months later, he was arrested after escaping from a vehicle that police were pursuing.

Four of the other gang members were also detained after police stopped vehicles across Sefton.

Bags of clothes, passports and large sums of cash were found in one of the vehicles.

Det Ch Insp Tony Roberts said the “absolute devastation” caused by the weapons was “tied hand-in-hand with the supplying of controlled drugs, grooming, county lines and the gang culture”.

He said the gang members “possessed weapons, such as the Skorpion, that have been used to kill innocent people in Merseyside”.

“Victims have died after being caught in the crossfire of disputes between groups like this who depend on violence, threats and intimidation to maintain their trade in illegal drugs.

“I am in no doubt that communities across Merseyside are safer now that these individuals are behind bars.”

All 12 offenders pleaded guilty to drugs offences. Their full sentences are:

• Joshua Adam Hayes, 34, of Muspratt Road, Seaforth, jailed for 20 years after admitting conspiracy to possess firearms and ammunitions, possession of a firearm when prohibited for life, two counts of conspiracy to possess ammunition without a certificate, conspiracy to supply class A drugs and conspiracy to conceal criminal property
• James Harrison, 28, of no fixed address, jailed 15 years and six months after admitting conspiracy to possess prohibited firearms and ammunition for sale or transfer, two counts of conspiracy to possess ammunition without a certificate and conspiracy to supply class B drugs
• George Medway, 21, of no fixed address, jailed for 12 years after admitting conspiracy to possess prohibited firearms and ammunition for sale or transfer, two counts of conspiracy to possess ammunition without a certificate, conspiracy to supply class B and production of class A
• Anthony Bennett, 31, of no fixed address, jailed for 17 years and seven months after admitting conspiracy to possess prohibited firearms and ammunition for sale or transfer, two counts of conspiracy to possession ammunition without a certificate, conspiracy to supply Class B drugs and production of Class A drugs
• John Newton, 33, of Rydall Avenue, Crosby, jailed for four years after admitting conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs
• Aaron O’Brien, 24, of Sonning Avenue, Litherland, jailed for six years and eight months after admitting conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs and conspiracy to conceal criminal property
• Matthew Ball, 28, of no fixed address, jailed for nine years and two months after admitting supply and possession with intent to supply class A drugs
• Kayleigh Wilson, 33, of Eden Vale, Netherton, jailed for four years and 10 months after admitting conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs and conspiracy to conceal criminal property
• Adam Dean, 35, of Willow Way, Liverpool, jailed four years and eight months after admitting conspiracy to supply class A drugs and conspiracy to conceal criminal property
• Michael Caldwell, 40, of Condron Road North, Litherland, jailed for five years after admitting conspiracy to possess prohibited firearms, two counts of conspiracy to possess ammunition without a certificate and conspiracy to possess prohibited ammunition
• Stephen Sutter, 33, of Osborne Road, Litherland, jailed six years and eight months after admitting conspiracy to supply class A drugs, conspiracy to conceal criminal property and possession of cannabis
• Thomas Ball, 18, of Sedburn Road, Southdene, sentenced to four years after admitting conspiracy to possession prohibited firearms, supply of class A and B drugs