Ice cream parlours, a take-away and a shed making firm have all been used by a Wigan drugs ring to launder huge sums of money made by dealing cocaine. The gang enjoyed a lavish lifestyle from their earnings - with flashy cars and designer clothes - until they were rumbled by police and brought to justice.
Seven men were jailed at Bolton Crown Court yesterday (May 18) for their roles in the conspiracy, which was brought down by anti-gang cops. Following a six-week trial, the group will serve a combined seven decades behind bars, while the wife of one of the men has also been handed a suspended prison sentence.
During the trial, the court was told about a police investigation codenamed Operation Trinket, used to uncover an organised criminal drug supply network in Wigan. Specialist staff carried out a period of intensive surveillance, before officers raided properties across the borough on the morning of July 20, 2018.
They included the homes of Paul Witter and his wife Jane Witter, Marc Talbot, his brother Michael Talbot, and Marc's son Cameron Talbot. The group were all arrested on suspicion of being involved in a conspiracy to supply cocaine and money laundering.
Hundreds of items were seized for examination - including quantities of drugs, cash, mobile phones and SIM cards, along with hundreds-of-thousands of pounds' worth of assets seized under Proceeds of Crime Act powers. These included high value designer clothing, jewellery and prestige vehicles.
Yet despite the lavish lifestyles some of the suspects enjoyed - funded by their illegal activity - they were declaring very little in the way of official income to the authorities. Following the initial investigation, police soon pieced together evidence of a wider network from recovered mobile phones and SIM cards.
Three further suspects were identified as also being involved in the wholesale supply of cocaine over a seven-year period, dating back as far as 2011 - Paul Whittaker, Thomas Tither and David Barnes. The trio were arrested following further drugs warrants being executed at their home addresses during May and June 2019.
How the group operated
The court heard how many of the group made vast profits through the wholesale supply of cocaine. Paul Witter, Marc Talbot and Michael Talbot acquired their high purity cocaine from Paul Whittaker, who was said to play a leading role.
His second in command, Thomas Tither, was directed to carry out transactions on his behalf with Witter and Talbot, who oversaw and directed the further sale of cocaine through their criminal network. A number of the group registered themselves as the directors of limited companies - which were said to be set up with the intention of laundering the vast amounts of cash derived from their criminal activities.
The companies included ‘WTR Sheds’, owned by Paul Witter; ‘Mikey’s Sweet Dreams’ Ice cream parlour, registered by Michael Talbot; ‘Botatelli’s Ice Cream’, registered by Marc Talbot; and later a take-away belonging to Paul Witter, called ‘Spudway’. In the lead up to the drugs raids, Marc and Cameron Talbot were observed at Marc’s address removing an Umbro holdall from the boot of Marc’s car parked on his driveway, and placing it into a van driven by Cameron before he left.
One week later, the same van was searched outside Cameron Talbot’s address during the series of warrants - while an identical holdall was found within it containing a large amount of high purity cocaine, digital scales, and mixing and packaging materials used for the adulteration of cocaine. When forensically examined, several fingerprints were found on the packaging materials and drugs belonging to Cameron Talbot.
From within Mikey’s Sweet Dreams’ premises, further digital scales, mixing equipment and drugs adulterants were also recovered - demonstrating that the businesses were not quite being used as they suggested. Cameron Talbot ordered quantities of cocaine and cutting agents from his father Marc Talbot and the pair regularly messaged each other regarding money owed and stocks of cocaine remaining.
Messages from mobile phones also showed that Michael Talbot was also employed by Paul Witter and was directed by him in the supply of cocaine by Witter and Marc Talbot. During a search of Tither’s home address in May 2019, further large amounts of high purity and ‘street’ purity cocaine already packaged and prepared for supply were also recovered.
Text messages showed that Paul Witter directed Jane Witter, Marc Talbot and others in the production, packaging and sale of cocaine. Images were downloaded from a handset belonging to Paul Witter showing large bundles of cash and three 'tick' lists with records of large sums of cash into tens of thousands of pounds, both owed and paid for cocaine supplied.
Messages from the same handset showed that 'street dealers' had been employed to sell cocaine. Messages also showed that Jane Witter and Marc Talbot facilitated meetings between Paul Witter and Paul Whittaker to source quantities of cocaine and adulterants for sale.
Paul Whittaker was said to be the ‘upstream’ supplier to the group and directed Thomas Tither in the supply of cocaine. Code words were often used by the group within text messages, with Whittaker describing the different qualities of ounce amounts of cocaine for sale as ‘Tickets’, and being of ‘Championship’ or ‘Champions League’ quality in an attempt to avoid detection by the authorities.
A dealer supplied with cocaine by the group throughout the conspiracy was David Barnes. Messages showed that David Barnes requested quantities of cocaine from Paul Witter and Marc Talbot which he then supplied to others and would then be ‘restocked’, with further amounts for sale.
Messages were passed through Jane Witter to facilitate access to the drugs which were supplied to Barnes - although during the trial Barnes gave evidence that the messages were purely in relation to him sourcing and selling on bottles of ‘red wine’ on the illegal market. The jury hearing the case, however, saw through this account and found him guilty, along with his co-accused.
Paul Whittaker, Thomas Tither, Michael Talbot, Cameron Talbot and David Barnes all denied conspiracy to supply cocaine and pleaded not guilty. However, following a trial in which Whittaker and Tither declined to give evidence, they were all found guilty as charged.
Paul Witter and Marc Talbot had already pleaded guilty to both conspiracy to supply cocaine and the money laundering offence of possession of criminal property at an early stage. Jane Witter had pleaded guilty to possession of criminal property.
Yesterday the group received sentences totalling 70 years:
- Paul Witter, 43, of Trinity Gardens, Ashton-in-Makerfield - seven years to be served consecutively with a 12-year sentence he has already received
- Jane Witter, 38, of Trinity Gardens, Ashton-in-Makerfield - one year and nine months, suspended for two years
- Marc Talbot, 50, of Kilburn Avenue, Wigan - seven years to be served consecutively with a 10-year sentence he has already received
- Michael Talbot, 42, of Hamilton Road, Garswood - four years and six months imprisonment
- Cameron Talbot, 24, of Langolm Road, Garswood - six years imprisonment
- Paul Whittaker, 55, of Moxon Way, Ashton-in-Makerfield - 13 years imprisonment
- Thomas Tither, 64, of Ince Green Lane, Wigan - six years imprisonment
- David Barnes, 48, of Tenbury Drive, Ashton-in-Makerfield - four years and six months.
