Drugs kingpin and gang members jailed

Jodie Danson (left) and Craig Moran were described as leaders of a criminal group transporting drugs between Manchester and Nottingham

Ten men who were involved in a "highly sophisticated" gang operation moving drugs between Manchester and Nottingham have been sentenced.

It follows a lengthy police investigation centred on Craig Moran, a major figure in gun crime in Nottingham in the 2000s who fled the country in 2018.

A judge at Nottingham Crown Court said the groups were involved in "the trafficking of vast quantities" of cocaine, heroin and cannabis, and also possessed a number of weapons.

The sentencing hearing for all the defendants took three days and concluded on Wednesday, with Moran receiving a 24-year prison sentence.

Clockwise from top left: Craig Bailey, Darren Bexon, Dean Hudson, Lee Hudson, Callum Sims, John Newns, Calum Kirk, Richard Jones

The court heard the defendants were involved in the movement of Class A and B drugs between the cities to varying degrees.

Judge Michael Auty KC said Moran was "the head of an organised criminal group" based in Nottingham whose "principal and incredibly lucrative activity was the supply of controlled drugs", with Danson his equivalent figure in the Manchester area.

Moran "chose to utilise trusted family and friends as much as possible", and by avoiding discussing operations in public and on phones he was "confident that he would never ever be caught".

The court heard Danson was "effectively Craig Moran's opposite number" in Manchester, where he also "recruited family and friends to maximise loyalties and minimise risk".

Describing the conspiracy as "at the very top of the scale of seriousness", he equated the enterprise to a football club at "mid-table of the Premier League".

The judge said the gang used a series of mobile phones and EncroChat to carry out and hide their activities, which he described as "a highly sophisticated criminal cartel" that was only stopped "by the intervention of the authorities".

Danson was recalled to prison in May 2018 but the court heard his "involvement in this enterprise continued, in many ways undiminished".

Moran feared "the net was closing in" following Danson's recall and fled the country in August 2018, but he was extradited back to the UK from the United Arab Emirates in 2020.

Guns and ammunition were recovered by police at a number of properties

The judge said the defendants' activities caused "immense" harm, adding the impact of drugs on society "close in fact to being incalculable".

"These drugs, particularly cocaine and heroin, are a blight on society," he said.

"It's almost impossible to overstate the corrosive effects of these drugs."

Following sentencing, Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin of Nottinghamshire Police said the "hefty" sentences were "a testament to an impressive investigation carried out by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit".

He said further action would be taken through the Proceeds of Crime Act to "seek to identify and seize any assets amounted from the running of this illicit enterprise".

“This was a massive undertaking by a very skilled and determined investigation team to dismantle a gang which was responsible for bringing large amounts of cocaine and heroin into Nottingham as well as firearms and ammunition," he said.

“It serves as a strong warning to others who think they can run drugs operations in our city and county that we have all the investigative tools we need to take their so-called drugs empires away from them."

The defendents and their sentences

Craig Bailey, 35, of Watkins Avenue, Salford, Manchester, was sentenced to 15 months after pleading guilty to participating in criminal activities of an organised crime group.

Darren Bexon, 39, formerly of Huggett Gardens, Top Valley, Nottingham, was sentenced to 12 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, conspiracy to supply a Class A drug, and conspiracy to produce a controlled drug of Class B.

Jodie Danson, 43, formerly of Edmund Street, Salford, Manchester, was sentenced to 16 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess, purchase or acquire prohibited weapons without authority, conspiracy to supply a controlled drug of Class A, and conspiracy to supply a Class B controlled drug.

Dean Hudson, 25, of Totland Drive, Nottingham, was sentenced to three years after pleading guilty to participating in criminal activity, producing a Class B drug and possessing Class B drugs with intent, and was found guilty of possessing criminal property.

Lee Hudson, 26, formerly of Wendling Gardens, Bestwood, Nottingham, was sentenced to 12 years after pleading guilty to possessing ammunition without a firearms certificate, conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, producing Class B drugs, possessing Class B drugs with intent and possession of criminal property.

Richard Jones, 51, formerly of Edgeware Road, Newton Heath, Manchester, was sentenced to eight years after pleading guilty to possession of ammunition without a certificate, possessing Class B drugs with intent, possession of a Class A drug, possession of a Class B drug and two counts of possession of a firearm.

Calum Kirk, 25, of Whitton Close, Bestwood, Nottingham, was sentenced to two years, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and affray.

Craig Moran, 42, formerly of Revelstoke Way, Rise Park, Nottingham, was sentenced to 24 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to transfer a prohibited weapon, conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and conceal/disguise/covert/transfer/remove criminal property.

John Newns, 43, of Asgard Drive, Salford, Manchester, was sentenced to three years and four months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply a Class B controlled drug and producing a Class B drug.

Callum Sims, 37, formerly of Morrell Bank, Bestwood, Nottingham, was sentenced to 14 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to transfer a prohibited weapon, conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and possessing a weapon for the discharge of a noxious liquid/gas/electrical incapacitation device.