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British cocaine dealer fled to South American bolthole after masterminding brutal murder of 'love rival' - only to end up in hellhole prison
A British cocaine dealer who masterminded the brutal killing of a love rival tried to evade justice by fleeing 4,500 miles away to South America - only to end up in a hellhole jail after being was arrested by local police for drug offences.
Days after murdering 38-year-old Thomas Campbell in his own home in Mossley, Greater Manchester on July 2, 2022, John Belfield, 31, travelled on a stolen passport to Anglesey and onwards through Dublin, Amsterdam, Spain and Brazil.
He finally ended up in the former Dutch colony of Suriname, an untouched rainforest- covered melting pot which remains firmly off the tourist track.
But rather than being attracted by its colonial architecture or nature reserves teeming with wildlife, among its key appeals was a lack of an extradition treaty with the UK.
Additionally, its reputation as a tropical bolthole had already served as a magnet to Belfield's cocaine-dealing on-the-run gangster cousin Paul Cooper.
'It's not a very nice country to be honest,' Belfield confessed to Manchester Crown Court during a trial that ended on Thursday with a jury finding him guilty of murder.
On Friday, he was jailed for life, serving at least 37 years behind bars before he is eligible for parole.
Before the killing of gangster Thomas Campbell made him Manchester's most wanted, Belfield had forged an illicit living as a wholesale drug dealer.
Hiding out on the other side of the Atlantic, he was to turn to the one occupation he knew – and it would swiftly prove his downfall.
In March 2023 – just after his 'right-hand man' and driver had been convicted over their roles in the killing alongside Mr Campbell's ex-wife Coleen – he was arrested on drug offences at a hotel in the capital, Paramaribo, and thrown into jail.
Belfield was no stranger to the inside of a prison cell – his previous convictions include theft and affray – but he described conditions in Surinamese custody as 'pretty horrendous'.
Cells are shared by as many as six inmates, no bedding is provided and shower facilities are communal.
Belfield's cover story quickly aroused suspicion, and the Suriname authorities were able to establish his true identity by reading British newspaper appeals.
They contacted Greater Manchester Police, enabling the manhunt to be called off.
But the Suriname authorities were unwilling to give up the fugitive until he had faced justice there, leading to fears of a sentence measured in years before he could be brought back to Britain.
Det Sgt Paul Davies, who led the investigation, said the initial reaction to Belfield being traced to Suriname was 'brilliant'.
'But I wanted to get him back and see him in court, not over there. I wanted him to be brought back here, face justice and in front of the family.'
Finally in March last year Belfield was released into the custody of Surinamese police who handcuffed him during a commercial trans-Atlantic flight to Amsterdam before the short transfer to Manchester.
Belfield's gaunt appearance on arrival was far removed from the well-built figure pictured on wanted posters and he had lost a lot of weight.
Looking 'pale, thin and dishevelled', he was arrested by Det Sgt Davies.
Asked about his emotions that day, Det Sgt Davies said: 'Relief, but it's not the end, it's like now the hard work starts.'
British police praised the co-operation they received from their South American counterparts, who demonstrated they had no wish to see their tiny country seen as a safe haven for European fugitives.
Belfield – who made no comment when he was arrested - was driven to prison to await trial over the murder of 38-year-old Mr Campbell.
More than 12 months on, jurors at Manchester Crown Court saw another side of him, featuring a 'studious' new look with glasses, smart shirts and a calm, polite demeanour.
However it was an act they quickly saw through.
The career criminal now faces a sentence likely to be at least as long as accomplice Reece Steven, who is serving a minimum of 37 years, after being convicted of murder.
Belfield was the key 'driving force' behind the carefully planned ambush and murder of Mr Campbell at his £350,000 townhouse in Mossley, Greater Manchester.
Fuelled by a toxic combination of greed and jealousy, detectives are in no doubt that Belfield and his two henchmen – one of whom remains untraced – were determined to 'humiliate' their victim.
Covered in tattoos and muscle-bound, Mr Campbell's appearance was a far cry from the tubby figure pictured during his marriage to Coleen.
The couple, who lived in an extended house in the Clayton area of Manchester, had been investigated by police since 2014 over their role in the area's cocaine trade.
Under suspicion due to their lavish lifestyle and garage of Mercedes and BMWs, in 2019 the couple both admitted money laundering.
Thomas was jailed for two years and Coleen handed a 16-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
The couple split, and by 2022 Thomas Campbell was in a relationship with Demi-Lee Driver – a nursing assistant who, fatefully, was John Belfield's ex.
In court, Belfield maintained he had moved on from her and had 'multiple' sexual partners – however the savage crime which was to follow showed his true sense of betrayal.
'He was sending nasty, misogynistic messages to Demi Lee,' a source said. 'It was quite obvious that he saw her as his property. And he didn't like the fact that she was in the relationship with somebody else.'
Born in Manchester, Belfield and his younger sister were raised in the eastern suburb of Openshaw by their NHS worker mother, who attended his trial daily.
Contemporaries branded him an 'arrogant troublemaker' and it was not long before he embarked on a life of crime.
From the age of 18 he was dealing drugs and involved with farming cannabis, although for a time he also made money legitimately through selling and repairing cars.
Over the next decade he amassed a string of convictions including for burglary, criminal damage, affray, theft and possession of an offensive weapon.
However by his late 20s he had carved out a profitable role as a wholesaler of cocaine and cannabis.
Detectives describe him as someone who was 'building a reputation' within organised crime.
Belfield was earning up to £2,000-a-week by selling to street dealers – enough to afford to run a white Porsche Boxster - while endeavouring to keep a sufficiently low profile to avoid police attention.
Detectives believe he recruited hardman Reece Steven - and potentially the second, unknown attacker - as 'muscle'.
'There's no way John Belfield would have been able to tackle Tom Campbell alone,' one said.
During his trial, Belfield maintained his sudden interest in Coleen Campbell – who by now ran her own aesthetics business – was due to being attracted to her.
Meanwhile his ex, Ms Driver, was sending him videos of herself dancing naked and saying she wanted to sleep with him again, he claimed.
But the grim reality was revealed by the 'sadistic' level of violence meted out on Mr Campbell after he was overpowered and bundled into the hallway of his home.
Stripped naked but for a pair of socks and bound with extra-strength duct tape, his face was mutilated, while boiling hot liquid was poured over his genitals.
Describing the catalogue of injuries as an effort at 'humiliation', Det Sgt Davies said the brutal violence meted out under Belfield's command was 'another level'.
'I think he wanted to show off a bit as well,' he added.
After the gang left, a 999 call was made from his phone – police believe one of his killers dialled the number before leaving the handset beside him, not intending him to die.
Det Sgt Davies told Mail Online he believes 'they've panicked and rung 999 from his phone thinking that the ambulance would get there'.
Instead, a harrowing recording shows that after the sound of panting and faint breathing from the critically injured victim, the operator ended the call.
So it was not until more than nine hours later that neighbours investigated, alerted to the front door being left open, and found his bloodied body.
Bizarrely, shortly after her ex-husband was killed, Coleen Campbell visited a psychic, later telling the dead man's mother that facial injuries had been done 'so other girls would not look at him'.
The macabre detail was to prove crucial in arousing suspicion that she had prior knowledge of the plot.
But it lends support to the theory that Mr Campbell was supposed to survive in order to live with his humiliation.
