A group of eight criminals who dug up roads and diverted electricity to cannabis farms run by organised crime gangs have been jailed by a judge in Liverpool.
The criminals used a legitimate company as cover and pretended to be workers who were digging up the roads to repair utilities in a “sophisticated operation”, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Instead, they cut into the electricity mains to supply power to houses, warehouses and shops where cannabis was being grown on an industrial scale by organised crime gangs, some from Albania.
The CPS’s case against the men spanned three years and encompassed 54 instances where the gang had illegally diverted electricity to cannabis farms up and down the country.
Over the period of the investigation, the gang illegally extracted £253,980 worth of electricity, which enabled the production of cannabis worth about £7m.
Posing as workers from Elev8 Civils and Utilities Ltd, they would drive company-branded vans to locations where they would cordon off areas, dig up pavements and splice into cables to provide direct feeds into cannabis farms, Liverpool crown court heard.
The men who received the longest sentences were Ross McGinn, 33, from Merseyside, Andrew Roberts, 42, and Graham Roberts, 47, from Wigan.
McGinn and Andrew Roberts were listed as the two directors of the company. They facilitated the works and directed the other organised crime gang members to the illegal road digs.
Graham Roberts, known as “Ganny”, was “the skilled worker of the company” and “an integral part of the operation”, according to the CPS. A cable jointer by trade, he did the physical fitting of the new electric cables.
Others were groundsmen and responsible for making the work look legitimate. The group would use WhatsApp to communicate about “work” and work in “plain sight”, wearing high visibility clothing.
All of the men pleaded guilty to encouraging or assisting an offence and conspiracy to abstract electricity. McGinn, who wiped away tears as he was jailed for five years and four months, and Andrew Roberts, who was given the highest sentence of six years, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal. Two other men will be sentenced at a later date.
James Allison, senior crown prosecutor with the CPS’s Mersey-Cheshire’s Complex Casework Unit, said the men played a vital role in assisting organised criminals to set up large numbers of cannabis farms all over the UK.
“The pretence of being genuine workmen digging up the road and repairing utilities was the perfect disguise.
“But they were working with and for Albanian nationals and other gangs to assist with the setup of cannabis farms by interfering with the mains electricity to power the farms.
“The term ‘professional enablers’ for organised crime describes their involvement.
“The work they did to divert the electricity was described by a professional electrical inspector as poor and often dangerous.
“They no doubt thought they would get away with their criminal operation but they were wrong and are now behind bars.”
A photo found on a phone showed Roberts with burns to his face thought to have been caused while he was at “work”.
The investigation found the men were involved in incidents in England, Scotland and Wales. Forces including the Metropolitan police, Avon and Somerset, Durham, Gloucestershire, Humberside, Kent, Leicestershire, Norfolk, Northumbria, Thames Valley, West Mercia and South Yorkshire were involved.
Source: theguardian.com
