Four men involved in Sussex drug network sentenced

15/10/2010

Four men have been sentenced today at Maidstone Crown Court for their involvement in a drug supply network operating in the Sussex, which CPS Crown Advocate Anthony Hill described as "a prolific organized crime group concerned in the wholesale supply of cocaine".

A covert police operation uncovered the organized supply network between 2008 and May 2009.

Defendant James Parker McCue was sentenced to nine years imprisonment; Fergus Gilman to five years imprisonment; Shaun Clancy to five years imprisonment and Darren Simpson to six years, three months imprisonment.

The men, who were all charged with conspiracy to supply class A drugs and possession with intent to supply of class A drugs, had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.

Speaking after the sentencing, Crown Advocate Anthony Hill said: "This was a prolific organized crime group concerned in the wholesale supply of cocaine. James Parker-McCue was responsible for preparing and distributing large quantities of the drug and acted as the wholesaler. Fergus Gilman and Shaun Clancy, together with Darren Simpson, were assisting Parker-McCue in this enterprise by bulking out pure cocaine by mixing it with adulterants, then transporting and storing products used in their joint venture. Every one of them played a significant role and each knew what their role was as part of a common agreement to supply the drug.

"This was a sophisticated operation and the prosecution's evidence was based on a number of events and complex telephone and forensic evidence."

The surveillance of an illicit meeting between three men triggered a series of arrests starting in October 2008, which later revealed the extent of the network and the defendants involvement. A Ford Mondeo at the centre of that meeting was followed, searched and found to contain 122g of cocaine of 99 per cent purity. The driver was acquitted of possession with intent to supply cocaine; his passenger Sadettin Uysalan pleaded guilty to the same charge and was later sentenced to 36 months imprisonment. The third man at that meeting was followed to James Parker-McCue's home address.

During the course of the investigation that followed, three other suspects were identified, properties searched and the threads linking all the men were unravelled. Three kilogram blocks of white powder were found bound with duct tape in a bag in Darren Simpson's car. James Parker-McCue's DNA was found on the sticky underside of the tape. A mobile phone belonging to James Parker-McCue was in regular contact with Darren Simpson and Fergus Gilman who tipped off Parker-McCue that Simpson had been arrested. The property shared by Fergus Gilman and Shaun Clancy was searched and found to contain large bags of cutting agents believed to have originated from a barrel in Parker-McCue's garage. Fingerprint impressions on those bags were identified as James Parker- McCue's.

Shortly after the arrest of Darren Simpson, James Parker-McCue departed on a flight bound for Alicante and a European Arrest Warrant was issued for his arrest. Spanish Police arrested him at a birthday party in a property he owns there.

Anthony Hill added: "These men were operating business deals worth tens of thousands of pounds on the back of an illegal life-destroying substance. We worked closely with Sussex Police from the outset of this case and a strong case was built against them all, culminating in extradition proceedings to return Parker-McCue to face justice in the UK. Their guilty pleas indicate just how compelling the evidence against them is and their arrests and convictions have systematically dismantled a professionally-organized drug network.

"We will now seek to confiscate to confiscate the lucrative financial proceeds of the conspiracy."