Drug trafficker who scalped woman can only pay back £1 of his criminal gains
An associate of a notorious Liverpool drug boss Vincent Coggins, was found to have benefited to the sum of nearly £500,000 from his life of crime - but will only have to pay back £1. Paul "Woody" Woodford was one of Coggins ' most trusted associates and was sentenced to 24-and-a-half years for his role in sourcing a firearm in a terrifying blackmail plot to recover a stolen cocaine haul. Woodford is a notorious figure in Liverpool's criminal underworld with convictions dating back 30 years for a series of heinous incidents including scalping a terrified woman with a machete and torturing a man with a hot iron, machetes and knives. He later fell in with Coggins' operation and was deployed to Europe where he was part of a heavily-armed gang arrested in Amsterdam, reports the ECHO. Woodford was also charged with the murder of 31-year-old pilot Jason Osu, but slashed his throat midway through the trial and refused to answer questions when giving evidence. He was cleared of the murder after a seven week trial and five days of deliberations . Woodford later adopted the EncroChat handle "Kingwasp" which he used to source and distribute heroin and cocaine shipments for Coggins. A proceeds of crime hearing was held on Thursday , April 24 before Manchester Crown Court for Woodford, Coggins and co-conspirator Michael Earle. During the brief hearing , prosecutor Alex Leach KC said representatives of both the crown and Woodford agreed the hardened gangland figure had benefited to the tune of £499,960.50 from his life of crime. However, the court heard Woodford, represented by Sebastian Winnett, only had £1 available to pay back. Judge John Potter said: "The available figure is a nominal sum given his circumstances. I come to the view a confiscation order of £1 should be made . There is no time to pay." Sarah Vine KC, for Coggins, told the court that her client had applied for his own proceeds of crime confiscation to be postponed for an expert report to confirm the crown's evaluation of the amount of drugs he trafficked to be correct. Judge Potter told the court Coggins and Earle, who was represented by Tara Riley, will appear for a fully contested proceeds of crime hearing on September 12. Detective chief inspector Dave Worthington , from the NWROCU's operations team, said: "These were extremely dangerous men, and had we not come across the serious threats of violence from the Coggins OCG through Operation Venetic – this could have been a very different outcome. "It's clear that the Coggins OCG thought they were untouchable, and their messages untraceable, but with support from the NCA and Merseyside Police , we were able to bring this criminal enterprise to its knees and prove them wrong. This crime group made substantial amounts of money through their ill-gotten gains. "The cash they made was moved and transferred via various means to launder it, which subsequently funded their lavish lifestyles. The sentences this crime group received shows that crime doesn't pay, and that we will stop at nothing to put those intent on flooding our streets with drugs and violence behind bars."
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But despite the dent in operations Cassidy exchanged messages with an associate in the Netherlands about a contact who claimed to be able to source 1,200 kilos of the class A drug. Discussions were had about purchasing 10 kilos as a test run with it arriving a few days later between April 14-15. At the same time Cassidy directed his brother Jamie to oversee the distribution of 162 kilos of cocaine, with the younger man providing a list of who had been given what. By this time EncroChat had been hacked and law enforcement had access to messages. An associate of the three men called Leon Atkinson was supplied cocaine sourced from and supplied by Ahmed, with payments nearing £500,000 in Bitcoin to a wallet controlled by a contact. The Court of Appeal heard that although details varied, "both Cassidy and instrumental in organising significant quantities of drugs, arrangements payment, instructing couriers and so on". 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In May 2022, four associates linked to the Cassidys and Ahmed were jailed for almost 40 years after a selfie of Atkinson led to their downfall. Liverpool man Joshua Avis is wanted by Greater Manchester Police in connection with their investigation. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. 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