Gang jailed for serious organised crime in Greenock

Brendan Gillan (left), Daniel Gillan (middle) and Christopher McKellar (right) as well as Lee Docherty and Ian Millar were jailed

Five men who ran a drugs operation from a housing estate in Inverclyde have been jailed.

Lee Docherty, 37, Ian Millar, 39, Brendan Gillan, 32, Daniel Gillan, 60, and Christopher McKellar, 44, traded in drugs worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

They pled guilty to being involved in serious organised crime between March and December 2020.

Prosecutors said the gang wreaked "disorder and disruption" in the local community.

Between March and December 2020, the gang used a "heavily fortified" building on the Larkfield housing estate in Greenock to control the sale and supply of cocaine, heroin, cannabis and etizolam.

Docherty, described in court as the gang's principal member, was jailed for eight years when the gang members were sentenced on Thursday.

Millar and Daniel Gillan were both given six-year sentences, while Brendan Gillan was jailed for six years and four months.

McKellar, who was responsible for moving the drugs, was sentenced to five years and four months.

Serious crime prevention orders were also served on Docherty, Millar and Brendan Gillan, and all the gang members will face proceeds of crime confiscation hearings in future.

Sineidin Corrins, deputy procurator fiscal for specialist casework at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said the "grip" the gang had on the local community has been "dismantled" following the conviction.

She said: "For years, the criminal activities of these individuals have impacted the everyday lives of many ordinary people in the Larkfield area of Greenock through their significant involvement in serious organised crime.

"They caused widespread disorder and disruption through the supply of drugs and their influence on young people.

"This extended to every facet of the community, from local people living in the area to those who ran shops or businesses."

'Blight on the community'

The gang was caught when French authorities intercepted encrypted messages on the EncroChat platform.

The court heard one message referred to Valium pills with a street of value of more than £700,000.

A police raid in December 2020 yielded a drugs haul worth £150,000, as well as £12,775 in cash, at the Oxford Road property referred to as "the trap", or "the shop", the court was told.

Det Ch Insp Robert Bowie, senior investigating officer for the case, added the men were a "blight on the community" who caused "harm in pursuit of their own gain."