Father and son jailed after 70 bricks of cocaine found on industrial estate
A father and son who ran a drugs plots worth £31.6 million have been jailed for nearly 25 years.
Raymond Kinnear, 63, and his son Nathan Kinnear, 23, were busted after police found some 45kg of cocaine inside an Audi owned by Raymond, who had left it parked at an industrial unit. The pair had collaborated in the plot, with Nathan providing "backup" and booking hotel rooms and providing the bags used to store the drugs.
After the pair were arrested, the elder Kinnear was identified as being attached to the EncroChat username "ViperBat" when French police infiltrated the group, the Liverpool ECHO reports.
READ MORE: Why the man arrested in the Liverpool parade crash can't be named
READ MORE: The airline named the worst for UK flight delays and it's not Ryanair or easyJet
Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE
Liverpool Crown Court heard that police had arrived at the unit on the Liver Industrial Estate in Aintree on June 18 2024, where they found the car in a unit which "appeared to be under the control of a bathroom company".
In fact, it had been subleased by Raymond Kinnear from April 28 2024, and his car was containing 70 vacuum-sealed bricks of cocaine. in Sports Direct bags In total, the 45kg of cocaine was estimated to be worth around £1.5 million.
The 45kg of cocaine seized on that occasion took the total amount of cocaine the pair were implicated in to a whopping 211kg between March 1 and May 17.
Even sold at the cheaper wholesale rate the cocaine was estimated to have a value of between £6.19 million and £7.96 million, while at the street level it was between £18.9 million and £31.6 million.
Prosecutor Nicola Daley told the court how a series of WhatsApp messages and calls between the father and son revealed how they had been moving drugs and cash over a period of six months.
Police seized several items, including a Rolex watch and around £30,000 in cash.
Nathan Kinnear was arrested at his home on Scarisbrick Road in Norris Green in the early hours on June 19. He attempted to flee police by jumping out of an upstairs window.
Paul Becker, defending Nathan Kinnear, told the court: "A number of people attend on behalf of him today, including his mum, his partner and his sister.
"I would ask the court to bear in mind his age. He may have been naïve as to the extent of the operation and the scale of criminality. He may have placed too much trust in his father and the things that he was expected to do for his dad."
He added: "He was looking for approval from his dad. It is very difficult to say no to a parent who is expecting a particular response. The defendant accepts that he made serious errors of judgement."
Meanwhile Kinnear's criminal record shows four previous convictions during the 1980s, including receiving three years in 1988 for causing death by reckless driving.
Jason Smith, appearing on his behalf, previously said: "He is 63 years of age, and he has had to accept that a significant period of the latter part of his life will be spent serving a custodial sentence."
Judge Neil Flewitt KC sentenced Raymond Kinnear to 17 years in prison and his son Nathan Kinnear to seven years and four months.
Sentencing, Judge Neil KC said: "It is clear that Raymond Kinnear was very close to those involved in the importation of the drugs. Raymond Kinnear's role was to collect the cocaine, to store it in an industrial unit rented for that purpose, to divide it and to deliver it to those further down the chain of supply.
"For that work, Raymond Kinnear was well rewarded. In addition, he involved his son Nathan in his offending. Nathan Kinnear played a part in the conspiracy on each occasion that Raymond Kinnear was involved in the distribution of class A drugs.
"There are some important differences in their situations. Nathan Kinnear's role was clearly subordinate to that of his father. It involved booking accommodation, giving his father lifts, sourcing bags in which to carry drugs and providing backup when his father delivered the drugs.
"I have read a letter from Raymond Kinnear and accept that he is genuinely remorseful for involving his son in his offending and for the upset caused to his wider family. It is notable that there is no expression of remorse for the impact on those whose lives have been blighted by the drugs distributed by him and his conspiracy."
Judge Flewitt meanwhile said of Nathan Kinnear: "It is clear that he is a young man who is highly regarded, and he has the potential to make something of his life. I accept that Nathan Kinnear was drawn into this offending by his father as a result of naivety and an eagerness to please.
"Nonetheless, he can have been in no doubt as to the seriousness of the enterprise in which he was involved. Nathan Kinnear was still a young man when he committed the offence. There are grounds to believe that he will develop and, upon release, realise his full potential."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Four die in apartment block e-scooter fire
Credit: X/@LevyGuillaume, @nexta_tv Four people have died in a fire started by an electric scooter in an apartment block in France. Authorities described the fire that tore through the 10-storey housing block in Reims, 80 miles north-east of Paris, as 'extremely violent' and akin to a 'scene of war'. The blaze was so fierce that it took dozens of firefighters several hours to bring under control. The victims were two teenage boys who lived with their family in the fourth-floor flat where the scooter was being stored, and an elderly woman and her son who lived on the top floor. The fire broke out shortly after midnight on Friday morning. The cause is believed to be an electric scooter that was being stored between a freezer and a washing machine. One of the residents of the flat was a 13-year-old boy, who died when he jumped from the window to escape the fire. The charred remains of his 15-year-old brother were found in the flat. The boys' stepfather survived but suffered serious burns. On the top floor, an 87-year-old woman and her 59-year-old son died from smoke inhalation. 'The first responders described a scene of war, literally, as the building's residents were fleeing the scene in disarray,' said François Schneider, the Reims public prosecutor, on Saturday. Lithium batteries that power e-scooters can catch fire if they have been improperly manufactured, overheat or are damaged. It took 62 firefighters more than three hours to extinguish the blaze, said Mr Schneider. 'Fires caused by this type of battery…are extremely difficult to extinguish, since the cells tend to self-sustain when they burn, which explains the violence and speed with which the fire spreads,' he added. One resident of the block, named only as Faïza, told a local radio station she and her family narrowly escaped after hearing screams and seeing smoke everywhere. She said they had to leave everything behind as they fled. 'The flames took over the building so quickly, we didn't have time. We went downstairs and went straight out with the children,' she said. Faiza said she was friends with the mother of the two boys who died, who was away on a visit to French Guiana with her newborn baby girl. She added that she had seen the body of the boy who jumped lying on the ground. 'His feet were broken. He was burned,' she said. 'His eyes were closed. I could see that he no longer felt the pain. You could see that he was no longer there. He wasn't moving, he wasn't speaking, his eyes were closed.' Since January, battery-powered electric scooters have caused at least 50 fires across France. The number of related fires has increased sixfold in France between 2017-2024, according to French insurer Maif. Fire safety experts remind users to follow manufacturer guidelines and to never overcharge devices, nor to charge them unattended while sleeping or away from home. Batteries should also be charged far from heat sources and emergency exits. Batteries showing signs of swelling, leaking, or any other defects should be replaced immediately. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Buzz Feed
a day ago
- Buzz Feed
46 Photos Of Things From The 19th And 18th Century
This 1800s 25¢ bill: This 1880s ID card: This 18th century diving suit: These 1800s shoes for crushing chestnuts: This 18th century fire alarm that you'd need to hit with a hammer to alert the village of a fire: This 18th century machine that let researchers read up to eight open books at once: This 1840s medical inhaler that administered anesthesia: This 18th century condom: This 1890s brass knuckle pistol: This 1850s women's self defense glove: This 1800s hidden staircase in a Victorian home: These 18th century sword-shaped Chinese coins: This 1830s clock: This 1700s oil lamp: This 1880s Victorian dollhouse: This 1740 wheelchair for Holy Roman Empress Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel: This 1820 coffin collar that prevented grave robbers from stealing corpses: This 18th century Scottish mortsafe to stop graverobbers: This 1890 steamer trunk that converts into a dresser: This 1880s penny farthing bike: This 1850 $10 bill: 1890s manners book: This 18th century gaming device that came before the pinball machine: This mid-1700s well that was glassed over and eventually became part of a home's kitchen: This 18th century French chair for reading books: This 1750s wall latern: This 18th century mansion's dog grave: This 18th century case of amputation instruments: This 18th century lock that requires four keys to open: This 18th century palace hall: This 1700s graffiti on a cathedral: This 18th century building in Norland, Norway: This 1700s lighthouse Fresnel lens: This 1800s sundial alarm clock: This 1800s pepperbox pistol: This 19th Century guide on how much you could sue for loosing a limb: This 1830 cost of a semester at Harvard: This 18th century uranium glass china that glows under UV light: This 1800s cemetery that was preserved in the basement of a building: This 1840 Japanese shadow puppet guide: This 1880 tap and die set (aka toolkit): This 1821 recipe for Ginger Ale: This 1800s corner chair: This 1800s telephone: This 19th century Victorian home library: And finally, this 19th century guide on who to avoid in the marriage market:
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Teenager dies in crash and motorist is arrested
A teenage passenger has died in a crash and the driver of the car has been airlifted to hospital. An Audi S4 and Volkswagen Up collided on the A5087 Coast Road at Rampside, Barrow, in Cumbria, at about 13:00 BST on Friday. The passenger in the Volkswagen, a man in his late teens, was pronounced dead at the scene while the driver, also in his late teens, was airlifted to hospital in Preston, Cumbria Police said. The driver of the Audi, a 20-year-old man from Barrow, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and driving whilst over the prescribed limit of a specified drug, but has been released pending further investigation. Cumbria Police has urged witnesses or anyone with dashcam footage to contact the force. Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. Cumbria Police
