Trio jailed for Maryport lockdown cocaine plot

The three men were jailed at Carlisle Crown Court

Three men who worked on a cocaine supply line during the first coronavirus lockdown have been jailed.

Leeds-based courier Elliot Bramley, 26, made 26 trips to Maryport, Cumbria, to deliver drugs to Robert Alan McNichol, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

McNichol, 45, who had a history of drug convictions, was jailed for 16 years and five months after admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine.

McNichol's uncle Leslie Reid, 61, acted as a "money man", the court heard.

The court heard the supply line began in January 2020 and ran until late November.

McNichol was said by the prosecution to have organised, bought and sold cocaine on a commercial scale, involving others in the criminal enterprise.

This came to an end when police made arrests and seized a 2.2lb (1kg) block of high-purity cocaine with a potential street value running into tens of thousands of pounds.

Breached order

Examination of Reid's mobile phone revealed messages between McNichol and his "money man" relative that indicated a total amount of cash changing hands during the conspiracy period of £263,420, the court heard.

At the time, McNichol was on prison licence and subject to a Serious Crime Prevention Order (SCPO) which ran until May 2022 and banned him from possessing more than £5,000 in cash and more than two mobile phones.

This order was imposed more than a decade ago when he was handed a 12-year jail term for his role in a previous cocaine conspiracy.

McNichol, of Greenwood Terrace, Maryport, also admitted cocaine possession with intent to supply, possessing criminal property totalling £45,000 and breaching the SCPO.

Reid, of St Helen's Street, Cockermouth, denied possessing £65,000 of criminal property and money laundering but was convicted by a jury and jailed for two years.

Bramley, of Meanwood Road, Leeds, was jailed for five years seven months after admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine.