Daniel Barwell: Doncaster councillor sentenced for part in global drug ring

Daniel Barwell had represented Doncaster council's Wheatley Hills & Intake ward since May 2021

A former Labour councillor has been sentenced for his part in a worldwide drug trafficking conspiracy.

Daniel Barwell, who served on Doncaster Council, was arrested in February 2022 on suspicion of conspiring to distribute magic mushrooms.

Lawyers in the US tried to extradite Barwell, but a remote hearing took place from the UK instead.

He was sentenced to the prison time he had already served in the UK while awaiting extradition to the US.

Court documents suggest he was detained in London for nine months before being released on an "extradition bond" to live with his mother.

Barwell's case was heard earlier this month via videolink at a court in Ohio in what lawyers believe to be a legal first.

'Military precision'

An arrest warrant had been issued by US officials, but it was rescinded after lawyers claimed the case of US citizen Anne Sacoolas, who was sentenced remotely for causing the death of Harry Dunn by careless driving, "undermined any suggestion that the same could not be done the other way round in this case".

Barwell, who had represented the Wheatley Hills and Intake ward since May 2021, made his first appearance before Westminster Magistrates' Court on 3 February last year when extradition proceedings against him began.

A note prepared ahead of his sentencing hearing said the defendant acted as a "re-shipper" for almost five years "for a conspiracy that flourished on the dark web".

The document said the conspiracy was carried out with "military precision", with liquid and dry forms of the drug being sold to customers throughout the US and Europe.

His US lawyer, Steven Nolder, said the defendant "withdrew from the conspiracy" shortly after he was elected to the council, with his arrest leading to his resignation and his contract as a hospital administrator being terminated.