R v Richard Brookhouse Paul O'Dee Joseph Kean Gareth Marland Gregory Rothwell Ian Longworth Anthony Olatunde Pereira

JurisdictionEngland & Wales
JudgeLord Justice May
Judgment Date20 December 2004
Neutral Citation[2004] EWCA Crim 3471
CourtCourt of Appeal (Criminal Division)
Docket NumberNo: 200306527/6533/6775/0070/0071/0576/5002/C1
Date20 December 2004

[2004] EWCA Crim 3471

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL

CRIMINAL DIVISION

Before:

Lord Justice May

Mr Justice Mckinnon

Mr Justice Beatson

No: 200306527/6533/6775/0070/0071/0576/5002/C1

Regina
and
Richard Brookhouse
Paul O'dee
Joseph Kean
Gareth Marland
Gregory Rothwell
Ian Longworth
Anthony Olatunde Pereira

MR E ROMILLY appeared on behalf of BROOKHOUSE

MR R S GIOSERANO appeared on behalf of KEAN

MR A EDISON appeared on behalf of MARLAND

MR A EDIS QC appeared on behalf of ROTHWELL

MR A J M O'BYRNE appeared on behalf of LONGWORTH

MR J M SHORROCK QC appeared on behalf of PEREIRA

MR D TURNER QC AND MR SCACK appeared on behalf of the CROWN

Lord Justice May
1

There have been seven appellants, or applicants, before the Court today. They all appear here arising out of proceedings in the Crown Court at Liverpool before His Honour Judge Brown. The subject matter of these proceedings was very large scale drug importation. All except the applicants Brookhouse and O'Dee were here on account of their sentences. Brookhouse and O'Dee renewed applications for leave to appeal against their convictions, but O'Dee withdrew his application in relation to his conviction. Brookhouse proceeded, essentially at the Court's direction, with his renewed application for leave to appeal against conviction. We indicated at the end of counsel's submissions that that renewed application would be dismissed. We shall give our reasons for that in the course of this judgment. Unfortunately counsel appearing for the applicant Pereira became unwell during the course of his submissions and between us, he and we the Court, decided that it was not right for him to proceed. Accordingly, Mr Pereira's application for leave to appeal against his sentence will have to be dealt with on another occasion.

2

On 6th August 2003 in the Crown Court at Liverpool the appellants Gareth Marland and Gregory Rothwell pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to contravene section 172 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979. That was count 1 on an indictment which charged importation of a controlled drug of class A. The judge ordered a similar count in respect of a class B drug, to which no plea had been entered by either appellant, to lie on the file on the usual terms. The judge adjourned sentence pending proceedings against a number of co-accused.

3

On 8th September 2003, also in the same court before the same judge, Joseph Kean, an applicant, on rearraignment pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to contravene section 172 of the 1979 Act, counts 1 and 2 of the indictment, in relation to importation of class A and class B drugs respectively. The judge adjourned his sentence.

4

On 9th September 2003 Ian Longworth on rearraignment pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy in relation to the importation of a controlled drug of class A. The judge ordered a similar count in respect of a class B drug, to which he had entered a not guilty plea to, lie on the file on the usual terms. Again sentence was adjourned.

5

Of those now before this Court, on 3rd October 2003 Richard Brookhouse was convicted by a majority of a jury, the majority being ten to two, of two counts of conspiracy relating to the importation of a class A and class B controlled drug respectively. The appellant Paul O'Dee was then convicted unanimously of count 2, an offence relating the importation of a class B drug only.

6

All of these, together with a number of co-accused, were sentenced on 25th November 2003 by Judge Brown as follows. Richard Brookhouse was sentenced to 22 years' imprisonment on count 1 and 17 years' imprisonment concurrent on count 2. His total sentence was therefore 22 years' imprisonment. Paul O'Dee was sentenced to four years' imprisonment on count 2. Joseph Kean was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment on count 1 and five years' imprisonment concurrent on count 2, making a total sentence of ten years' imprisonment. Gareth Marland was sentenced to 17 years' imprisonment on count 1. Gregory Rothwell was sentenced to 21 years' imprisonment on count 1. There were confiscation proceedings against him, when the judge later made a confiscation order in the sum of £712,000 to be paid within 12 months, and he ordered the appellant Rothwell to serve 18 months' imprisonment in default of payment. Ian Longworth was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment on count 1.

7

There were other co-accused, not now before this Court. David Roylance pleaded guilty to counts 1 and 2 and was sentenced to a total of nine years' imprisonment. He did not renew his application for leave to appeal against sentence after the single judge had refused it. Paul Geraghty pleaded guilty to count 1 and was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment. He did not renew his application for leave to appeal against sentence following refusal. Paul Columbine on rearraignment pleaded guilty to count 1, the class A drug count, following evidence given by a co-conspirator, Hayden Jeys. Columbine was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment. There were confiscation proceedings in his case. He did not renew his application for leave to appeal against sentence after the single judge had refused it. Warren Baines pleaded guilty to count 1 and was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment. He did not renew his application for leave to appeal against sentence following refusal. Peter Chapman on rearraignment pleaded guilty to counts 1 and 2 and was sentence to nine years' imprisonment and four years' imprisonment respectively on each count, making a total of nine years' imprisonment. He did not renew his application. David Ellis on rearraignment pleaded guilty to count 2 and was sentenced to two years and three months' imprisonment. Gary Fenton pleaded guilty to count 1 and was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. Finally, Terence Pimley on rearraignment pleaded guilty to count 1 and was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment.

8

As we have said, Richard Brookhouse renews his application for leave to appeal against conviction and sentence. Paul O'Dee appeals against sentence by leave of the single judge, having withdrawn his renewed application for leave to appeal against conviction. Gareth Marland and Gregory Rothwell appeal against their sentences by leave of the single judge. Joseph Kean and Ian Longworth renew their applications for leave to appeal against sentence following refusal by the single judge. In summary therefore Paul O'Dee, Gareth Marland and Gregory Rothwell have leave to appeal against their sentences. Nobody else before this Court today has leave to appeal, in the case of Brookhouse against conviction, or, in the case of him and the others, against their sentence.

9

An overview of the prosecution case is as follows. Customs and Excise and the Greater Manchester police had a joint operation, which they referred to as Operation Sepulcher, which targeted activities of drug importers in the north west of England. Gregory Rothwell and another man by the name Alan Knott, who had not been apprehended, were, according to the prosecution, the leading figures in the organisation. Rothwell's transport organisation provided a service for those wanting to import drugs. It sourced lorry drivers prepared to risk detection for large sums of money. It provided, according to the prosecution, trusted and reliable go-betweens who would collect the drugs from suppliers in Holland. It arranged the shipment on lorries bound for the United Kingdom, and distribution to major dealers in the north west. Those making the run were provided with mobile phones to be used specifically for that run only making detection more difficult. The phones were destroyed following the run.

10

On 25th May 2002 the defendant Gary Fenton was observed visiting Hayden Jeys, who was, according to the Crown, Rothwell's first lieutenant. Fenton subsequently hired a vehicle from a car company in Abbotstone. The following day Fenton and Geraghty travelled to Holland via Dover. Their role was to direct the drugs from the suppliers in Holland and to make contact with the driver of the lorry in which the drugs were to be concealed.

11

In addition to the two men it was normal practice for someone to be sent out to supervise the importation. Hayden Jeys had historically undertaken this role but on this occasion he was nervous that he might have been under surveillance during a previous importation in April. Instead Gareth Marland was sent out to act in the role of supervisor. Gareth Marland had been involved in two previous importations of drugs and was a friend of Rothwell from school days. Jeys had taken him to Liverpool Airport from where he flew to Holland where he met Fenton and Geraghty in Amsterdam. On 28th May 2002 they hired a transit van and travelled to various premises in both Amsterdam and Rotterdam collecting packages and holdalls which were later found to contain drugs. Once the drug had been collected they travelled to Belgium where they met a lorry driven by Longworth. Near Ypres the lorry was loaded with drugs. Fenton and Geraghty were arrested as they attempted to drive through the Channel Tunnel.

12

Longworth was arrested in Dover. His trailer was loaded with a number of sealed metal fluid containers measuring approximately 5 cubic feet purporting to contain hazardous chemicals. Three of the containers were full of controlled drugs. These included 119 kilogrammes of heroin (the equivalent of 49.4 kilogrammes pure weight), 99 kilogrammes of amphetamine (the equivalent of 20 kilogrammes pure weight), 13.5 kilogrammes of cannabis and 1 kilogramme of cocaine (the equivalent of 805 grammes pure weight). The total estimated street...

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