Gangland boss to face hearing over criminal assets

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 31 Oct, 07:46 · Archive

Jamie Rothwell, jailed for orchestrating drug deals and shootings using encrypted phones, will face a hearing to seize criminal proceeds.

Jamie Rothwell, 39, was jailed last year for his role in a conspiracy using encrypted EncroChat phones to deal hard drugs, move weapons and plan shootings. He will face a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing early next year, along with fellow gang members Zak Rourke, 35, and Callum Morris, 34, aimed at seizing criminal proceeds. A brief hearing before Manchester Crown Court this week heard how the gang faces the asset-recovery proceedings.

Rothwell used EncroChat to orchestrate attacks in Warrington against associates of gang boss Leon Cullen. One plot resulted in a shooting at a home on Poplars Avenue in Orford in April 2020, when a gunman posing as a pizza delivery worker shot a man through the door, causing life-changing injuries including shattered leg bones requiring multiple operations and metal reconstruction. A second planned attack failed when the intended victim had moved away.

Rothwell was linked to around 200kg of cocaine worth approximately £7M, along with ketamine, heroin and around £1.2M of drug money. The Chester Standard reports the entire conspiracy involved hundreds of kilograms of cocaine with drug money running into hundreds of millions of pounds. Rothwell also had access to an array of weapons, including an AK-47 submachine gun. The outlets differ on his sentence length: the Warrington Guardian reports 39 years plus four years on extended licence, while the Chester Standard states 43 years.

How it is being reported

• Gangland boss behind huge drugs and shooting plots to face criminal cash hearingA gangland boss and his henchman will be facing a hearing aimed at seizing the cash they made from a huge drugs plot.Chester Standard · 31 Oct, 07:00
• Gangland boss behind drugs and shooting plots to face criminal cash hearingA gangland boss and his henchman will be facing a hearing aimed at seizing the cash they made from a huge drugs plot.Warrington Guardian · 29 Oct, 14:18

In this story: Jamie Rothwell · Zak Rourke · Callum Morris · Leon Cullen · Manchester Crown Court · Warrington

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log