A grandad used his job as a lorry driver as cover as he transported hundreds of thousands of pounds of heroin across the country.
Stanley Feerick handed over a hold-all packed with several kilos of the class A drug when he was pulled over by police at a motorway service station, Liverpool Crown Court heard today. The pensioner was also part of a gang behind a £1million amphetamine lab who carried out their dodgy dealings in a Costco car park.
He was ensnared by a National Crime Agency probe codenamed Operation Joyfully, which was set up to investigate an organised crime group run by Terence Earle via encrypted communications platform EncroChat. The 49-year-old, of Freckleton Road in St Helens, "enlisted the help of subordinates" such as Feerick and Stephen King in carrying out his illicit activities.
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The court was previously told the racket was involved in the importation of drugs "from Europe and beyond" and had a "secret laboratory" in Scotland. But it was halted when Lancashire Police seized 560kg of alpha-phenylacetoacetamide - also known as APAA, a chemical used to make amphetamine - from the OCG in December 2020.
The three pallets, comprising of 28 boxes in total, were found in the rear of a lorry which had been loaded up at a warehouse at Reams Hill Holiday Park - a caravan park in Weeton, near Blackpool - on 68-year-old Feerick's orders before being stopped by police using a stinger. This quantity would have allowed for the production of around 1,000kg of the drug, worth £1.1million, at the "industrial scale" lab.
Earle and his associates had previously arranged for seven boxes of APAA to be transported in a Ford Transit van from the same site to a garage in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, in March 2020, at the beginning of the first covid lockdown. Earle also presided over the trafficking of heroin and cocaine to Merseyside from north of the border and in the opposite direction "with the assistance" of Lee Baxter.
Covert surveillance captured a meeting between Feerick and King in November 2020, with the former arrested shortly afterwards while driving a lorry on the M6 southbound. A hold-all inside the HGV contained 2.9kg of heroin, class A drugs worth around £300,000, as well as £20,000 in Scottish bank notes.
A search of his home on Longreach Road in Dovecot unearthed further monies to the value of £9,370. EncroChat messages also discovered the outfit had also been involved in shipping cocaine between England and Scotland, with all four men then being arrested in March 2021.
"Go-between" Baxter was evidenced to have "provided assistance and logistical operations" for the OCG and acted as a courier, delivering £34,000 in cash to Bolton on behalf of Earle to the user of the EncroChat handle "SlimZebra". King's involvement meanwhile was said to have been "limited to class B drugs".
A fifth conspirator, Stephen Singleton, used his "apparently legitimate chemicals company" in order to "supply the necessary ingredients for large amounts of amphetamine". He too operated using an Encro phone, giving Earle his custom in "commercial if not industrial quantities".
On April 14 2020, the 32-year-old supplied 500 litres of isopropyl alcohol - another component in manufacturing amphetamine - in return for payment of £4,000. Singleton was seen meeting a delivery driver at Costco in Haydock and unloading a number of large drums filled with the substance from his vehicle into a Transit van. This was then seen arriving at the Motherwell safehouse that afternoon, with the same 10 plastic containers being unloaded at the site.
William Beardmore, prosecuting, described on Thursday how Feerick directed officers to the bag full of cash and vacuum packed drugs, which had been stowed in his cab, when he was stopped. He had also "organised transport and drivers" for chemicals to be taken to Scotland, "appearing to have used his legitimate work as cover" - having been employed as a lorry driver by a Knowsley-based firm.
Feerick has a total of 11 previous convictions for 21 offences. His criminal record includes entries for the supply of drugs in 1995, possession of cocaine with intent to supply in 2000, supplying cannabis in 2002 and money laundering in 2013.
Philip Tully, defending, told the court that his client believed there had only been cash stashed in the incriminating hold-all. He also pointed to a number of health difficulties experienced by the "loving father and grandfather", who suffers from diabetes and has undergone treatment for an eye condition.
Mr Tully added: "His involvement was due to a long-standing friendship with Terence Earle. That friendship led him to be involved, at some stage, in the commission of these offences.
"He has genuine remorse for his actions. He took the stupid decision, because of friendship, to become involved in these offences.
"There is a completely different side to Mr Feerick. He is capable of leading a constructive life with legitimate employment.
"He is not a well man. He is going to find it extremely difficult to serve a custodial sentence, something he has not done for 10 years."
Feerick admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and participating in the activities of an organised crime group. He was jailed for eight-and-a-half years.
Sentencing, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC said: "You plainly worked closely with Terence Earle. The role played by you was an important one.
"Plainly you were playing an operational function, liaising between others. You were using your employment as a HGV driver as a cover, and you plainly had an awareness of the scale of the operation.
"This was serious offending. You knew full well what you were doing and the consequences of getting caught."
Feerick told the judge "thank you your honour" after learning his sentence, before puffing out his cheeks in the dock and adding "wow". Earle was previously locked up for 16-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to produce amphetamine.
Singleton, of York Road in Birkdale, admitted conspiracy to produce amphetamine. He was handed 41 months behind bars in April, to be served consecutively to a separate term of nine years and two months imposed in January after he was convicted of conspiracy to produce amphetamine in connection with a similar drugs lab located in a shed in a rural area near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, which was capable of producing around £5million of amphetamine.
Baxter, of Eldersfield Road in Norris Green, pleaded guilty to participating in the activities of an organised crime group. The 48-year-old was given a 22-month imprisonment suspended for 18 months, 150 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 15 days.
King, of Garshake Terrace in Dumbarton, was found guilty of participating in the activities of an organised crime group following a trial. The 49-year-old was handed 18 months suspended for 18 months plus 100 hours of unpaid work and a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement.
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