A group of British soldiers have been jailed after a court heard they sold almost £100,000 worth of cocaine to fellow military personnel and bought designer products with the proceeds.
A kilo of the drug was sourced in west London and sold by the four members of 5th Battalion, the Rifles, at Bulford camp in Wiltshire over a near three-year period, the court heard on Thursday.
One of the soldiers bought a Rolex watch and Christian Louboutin shoes and boasted of having to do some “Gordon Ramsay magic” by cutting the cocaine with a caffeine product before selling it on, the court heard.
Another ran a payday loan scheme to colleagues, which the court heard may have contributed to the poor state of mind of a 20-year-old soldier who took his own life.
Bulford military court heard that Rifleman Claudius Scott orchestrated the operation with Rfn Ryan Saedi his second in command. L/Cpl Bradley Hesketh and Rfn Ashleigh Walker were “trusted dealers”.
Scott and Saedi, both 31, made more than £40,000 each. They, Hesketh, 27, and Walker, 29, all admitted conspiracy to supply drugs.
Will Martin, prosecuting, told the court the “network” of drug dealing was in place between January 2018 and December 2020. He said: “Scott, Saedi, Walker and Hesketh all played a role in supplying to other service personnel. The conspiracy was straightforward. Cocaine would be sourced from west London and sold on to service personnel. It was well known they were drug dealers.”
The court heard they cut the cocaine with a Pro Plus caffeine product and on one occasion when the drug arrived, Hesketh texted an accomplice: “We’re going to need to do some magic work to it – some Gordon Ramsay work” – a reference to the cutting process.
In another exchange read out in court, Scott messaged Hesketh expressing concern about his lack of discretion after he was spotted wearing a Rolex and new Christian Louboutin shoes in the nearby town of Amesbury. Hesketh told Scott to “chill” but added: “My bad.”
The court heard there was a “culture of money lending at high interest rates” within the battalion. Saedi had implemented a “double bubble” loan scheme, which required cash-strapped colleagues who borrowed from him to repay double the amount on their next pay day.
He would “persistently chase down” those who owed him money, encourage them to take out other loans and threaten them, the court was told. In a text to a relative, he said his borrowers were giving him sob stories – “their cat died, they got to pay for the funeral” – but he added: “I don’t give two fucks.”
One of his customers was Rfn Nathan Worner, who killed himself in May 2020. After Worner missed a payment, Saedi found out his home address and told him: “Bruv send me my money or I’m coming to your house.”
In a statement read to the court, Worner’s mother, Alison Blackwell, said she was “haunted” by the thought of his influence on her son’s death. “I believe their greed and intimidation would have at least contributed to his state of mind,” she said. In relation to his loan scheme, Saedi admitted conduct prejudicial to good order.
Scott was jailed for four years and one month as the “initiator and leader” of the group. Saedi was jailed for three years and four months, Hesketh for three years and one month, and Walker for two years and nine months.
Addressing them, the assistant judge advocate John Atwill said: “You all chose to join a criminal conspiracy to supply cocaine to members of your unit for your own financial gain.”
He also said Saedi’s “insidious” payday loan scheme had been run on a “very significant scale”.
