Two brothers who made headlines for terrorising their community 21 years ago now face jail for a brutal drugs heist.
Craig and Jason Cox were slapped with ASBOs aged 12 and 15 after damaging property, using abusive language and threatening residents. Two decades later the brothers, who ran a Salford based crime gang, stole around £1m worth of cocaine from an infamous Liverpool-based crime group.
The MEN reports, Jason had previously been identified as being in a mob of youths throwing missiles at fire crews as they dealt with a burning car. While Craig caused mayhem at his school intimidating teachers and pupils and was seen with a replica gun at Broughton Recreation Centre.
READ MORE: Moment crime family robbed £1m of cocaine from Liverpool home caught on CCTV
This week Manchester Crown Court heard how Liverpool career criminal Richard Caswell planned a raid with Jason and Craig Cox, to steal £1.2 million worth of cocaine for a rival gang. Alex Langhorn, prosecuting, revealed how the Caswell and the Cox brothers planned and even took part in dummy runs to the address on Croxdale Road West prior to the actual raid on the morning of May 23, 2020.
The gang struck at 9.24am at a home in the Yew Tree district of Liverpool. They had identified it, by placing a tracker on a courier's car, as the stash house for the drugs of the Merseyside OCG.
One of the gang, Ben Monks-Gorton, had posed as a delivery driver, carrying an empty box, in a hi-vis jacket, and wore a face mask. As the door was opened the four stormed in. By 9.28am they had escaped with 30kg of cocaine.
But in doing so they had also attacked a man with a machete and axe - cutting one of his arms to the bone. His son was struck on the head with an axe. The face mask, with Monks-Gorton's DNA on it, was recovered from the scene.
Detective Inspector Roger Smethurst, said: "The Cox family are a long-standing Salford based Organised Crime Gang.
"They are quite notorious - four brothers. Through data we identified three of the brothers being involved in large scale supply of class A drugs, and class B drugs, and two being linked to nasty robbery in the Merseyside area, which was drugs related."
DI Smethurst said: "Before this the Cox family had been linked to robberies and aggravated burglaries. A family enterprise, they didn't need to align themselves with any of the other factions in Salford. They were able to support themselves in Salford through their notoriety."
Police learned about the raid through the EncroChat phone network, which was used by the gang. Caswell described a member of the Liverpool gang they went on to rob as a 'horrible c***.'
In a message to Jason Cox, Caswell said: "If we get his driver do you think he will be the man with access to gaff with it all in?" He added: "I would even be up for killing him if needs be." Jason Cox and Caswell also discussed using tacking devices in the build up to the raid. Jason Cox said to Caswell: "Do you think this firm are wary of trackers?"
"Yes," Caswell replied. "They have been at it for years. If they suspected us, they would want to put us on lie detector. We need to be spot on with this." Monks-Gorton, 30, who had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit to robbery, was jailed for six years and nine months. Judge Patrick Field QC told Monks-Gorton that although he was not involved in planning the raid he 'facilitated entry to the house' by posing as a delivery driver.
Anthony Nevin, 35, who worked as a courier for the Cox gang, had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply cannabis and conspiracy to possess criminal property. Nevin, who was not involved in the raid at the stash house, was jailed for nine years and nine months.
Caswell will be sentenced with Jason Cox, Craig Cox, Lee Cox next month. The four men have pleaded guilty to drug offences and possessing criminal property.
