Gang member who plotted revenge has sentence reduced

Michael Earle was sentenced to 11 years in prison in May

A gang member who plotted revenge on men he mistakenly believed stole a £1m cocaine hoard has had his sentence reduced by the Court of Appeal.

Michael Earle, 48, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit blackmail and conspiracy to supply class A drugs at Manchester Crown Court and was sentenced to 11 years in prison in May.

But appeal judges in London said the sentence was "manifestly excessive" and reduced it to nine years.

Matthew Ryder KC, representing Earle, said the sentencing judge "did not take into account the overlap" between the two charges, which led to a "significantly higher" sentence.

'Paid in drugs'

He told the court Earle had been paid in drugs as a reward for locating the rival gang he believed had targeted Merseyside crime boss Vincent Coggins's £1m cocaine stash.

Mr Ryder said the conspiracy to supply was an "aggravating feature" in the main charge of conspiracy to blackmail and meant the sentence had to be reduced.

He said: "There was a brutal machete attack on two people looking after the drugs involved in this case.

"It was an extreme, terrible incident and the genesis of this blackmail.

"This explains some of the decisions for Earle's plea.

"Intermediaries began getting involved as there were two drug gangs getting close to starting a war within the city."

Earle was enlisted by Coggins to exact revenge on the thieves after a house where he stored cocaine was raided by a rival gang in May 2020.

Earle made threats to who he believed the robbers were - but mistook them for another gang.

The court heard that these threats included using grenades and firearms on the three individuals.

Messages between Earle, Coggins and other gang members were tracked by police, who had been monitoring the individuals.

For his role in the incident, Coggins was jailed for 28 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs and conspiracy to commit blackmail.

Reducing the sentence, Lord Justice Green - sitting alongside Mrs Justice May and Mr Justice Linden - said though Earle had been "approached to help locate the thieves and exact revenge on them" he had "some sympathy" over the sentence.

He added: "The reality here is that you did not accept a financial reward. Your payment was paid in drugs."