The leader of a notorious crime family said "it's my birthday, this is a joke" when police raided his home.
Paul Whitney was previously jailed as the ringleader of the Whitney gang, a family drugs ring which flooded the city's streets with heroin and crack cocaine. And he is now facing yet another lengthy spell behind bars for trafficking huge quantities of illicit substances under the pseudonym 'Bullet Hawk'.
Liverpool Crown Court heard this afternoon, Wednesday, that this was the handle the 44-year-old used on encrypted communications platform EncroChat. Jamie Baxter, prosecuting, described how Whitney had a "network of couriers and drivers" at his disposal to collect drugs and cash on his behalf.
