Judge called 'b***end' in courtroom outburst as man is jailed for 21 years
A criminal shouted 'shut up' and 'b***end' to a judge after a drug dealing gang was struck down with lengthy prison sentences in Liverpool
A criminal told a judge to "shut up" and called him a "b***end" before he was thrown into prison for 21 years.
The shocking outburst came as members of an organised crime group were jailed for nearly 50 years - after stashing a gun used to shoot a woman in the leg. Scott Howard and Anthony Nelson led the "Rice Lane drug dealing fraternity" heroin and cocaine supply chains. The criminals employed Liam Duffy and Terry Riley as "lieutenants" in their "Wong" and "Won Chin" gang. The DNA of drug users Gary Bell and Stephen Moore was meanwhile found on the firearm.
Nicola Daley, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court on Friday how the drugs operations were "active from at least the end of 2022", with Riley and Duffy having been "trusted to manage or control the graft phone". This led to Duffy being detained on April 17, 2023, having discarded a black Nokia phone which contained the SIM card relating to the Wong Line, as he attempted to evade arrest.
A Skorpion submachine gun was meanwhile recovered from a flat which was controlled by one of the ring's customers, Anthony Bosenquet, in Walton on March 2, 2023. This firearm was subsequently found to have been used during two shootings the previous year, Liverpool Echo reports.
One, in April 2022, saw Beverley Tynan, a woman in her 50s, shot in the leg in Wavertree. Her son, Charlie Tynan, was subsequently convicted of offences relating to his involvement in the supply of class A drugs.
The second happened around a week later, in Stoneycroft, when shots were fired through the front window of Jason Hughes' home, who was also later convicted of being involved in the production and supply of cannabis.
The gun was found wrapped inside a tea towel within a black Under Armour rucksack, which was recovered from the bathroom of the address. Merseyside Police also seized a silencer and loaded magazines. DNA belonging to both Bell and Moore, also evidenced to have purchased drugs from the Wong Line, was subsequently discovered on the Skorpion.
Howard was then spotted in woodland near to Rice Lane Recreation Ground in the company of a second male on the evening of April 19, 2023, with a police helicopter subsequently tracing their movements towards the Liverpool Loop Line. While the other man was able to escape on an electric bicycle, he was ultimately arrested on foot in possession of a pair of gloves and a balaclava.
Officers searched the woods and found an abandoned bike and a rucksack containing a canister of petrol, with a loaded Zoraki 917 blank-firing handgun. A silencer had also been fitted to this prohibited weapon.
It came after Howard became embroiled in an earlier plot to smuggle cannabis, phone and tobacco into HMP Liverpool during 2021, while he was a serving prisoner. This scheme was uncovered when guards noticed a drone flying in the area near to the jail on December 20 that year.
Howard, of no fixed address, has a total of 18 previous convictions for 29 offences. Jonathan Duffy said on behalf of the 35-year-old: "He has reflected on his behaviour and actions at this time. The passage of time and separation from his family have caused him to realise the effect that his actions have had on them and on his relationship with them."
He added: "In my submission, the remorse that he expresses in his letter to the court is genuine. He understands, inevitably, that he is going to be separated from his family for a further significant period. Once he has served that period, Scott Howard never intends to offend again. He was not directly involved in selling or distributing wholesale quantities of class A drugs. He was managing those street level lines."
Riley, of West Derby, has 20 previous court appearances for 45 offences, but none since 2017. Gary Bell, of Bootle, has 37 previous convictions for 74 offences.
Moore, of no fixed address, has a "long antecedent history" comprising 47 convictions for 90 offences, including possession of cannabis with intent to supply. Duffy, from Knotty Ash, has eight convictions for 18 offences, including possession of heroin and cocaine with intent to supply.
Howard was convicted of conspiracy to possess a prohibited firearm following a trial in relation to the Skorpion submachine gun. He pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a prohibited firearm, possession of ammunition without a certificate, conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine and three charges of conspiracy to convey prohibited articles into a prison. Appearing in the dock wearing a black Givenchy jumper, he was jailed for 21 years and two months.
Duffy admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine and was handed eight years behind bars. Riley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine and nodded, giving a thumbs up to the judge, as he was sentenced to six years. Moore and Bell each admitted conspiracy to possess a prohibited firearm. They were locked up for five and six years respectively.
Chaos broke out after the judge revealed Howard's drug dealing charges should be graded in category two, rather than category one. Clapping and cheers were heard in the public gallery but one man was then seen to storm out of the courtroom. Another shouted towards the dock "Scott, don't worry lad, it's sweet". Having been ordered to leave court as a result, he then added: "Shut up lad. b***end."