TWO men who supplied drugs to crime gangs in Warrington, enabling lavish lifestyles after benefiting from more than £20m, have been jailed for a combined total of 39 years and eight months at Chester Crown Court.
Alan Tobin and John Tobin were members of an organised crime group jailed for more than 69 years in total and ordered to pay more than £500,000, which included homes being seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA).
The judge ruled that Alan Tobin, John Tobin, Robbie Broughton, Helen Hartley, Ann Hartley, and Kathryn Walker, had benefitted from the crime group to the sum of £20,098,000.
The court ordered them to pay within the next three months – or face a further two years imprisonment.
This sum has been partly determined from equity in Helen Hartley and Ann Hartley’s homes in Widnes and Liverpool, which will need to be sold, along with cash, jewellery, designer clothing and funds from bank accounts.
The court heard that Alan Tobin, 52, and John Tobin, 42, who were sentenced to a combined total of 39 years and 8 months imprisonment, were mainstream suppliers of drugs to two well-known gangs in Warrington from who 186kg of cocaine was seized by police.
They were supplying huge amounts of cocaine to the organised crime gangs of Anthony Cullen, 33, and 30-year-old Jamie Oldroyd.
Cheshire’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit began an investigation in 2020 and following a number of raids by police, Alan and John Tobin were arrested and subsequently charged.
A spokesperson for Cheshire Police said: “This is the perfect example of how crime does not pay and shows the lengths we will go to in order to target those who have profited from crime.
“Not only were Alan Tobin and John Tobin handed lengthy prison sentences, but they must also now pay back every penny they made from their illegal exploits.
“POCA orders allow us to recoup all of criminal’s benefit from crime – by not only ensuring that criminals are locked behind bars, but also ensuring that they cannot enjoy any money received once a sentence is served.
“Helen and Ann Hartley, the wife and mother-in-law of Alan Tobin, were not directly involved with the drug aspect of the organisation, but they were sure to indulge in the profits made.
“Helen and Ann both had houses that were of significant equity, paid for by Alan and John’s criminality.
“Thankfully as a result of the hearing, they will no longer be able to turn a blind eye and enjoy the proceeds of this criminal enterprise.
“This money will no longer be ploughed back into criminality. We will do all we can to ensure that criminals operating in Cheshire are unable to profit from their crimes and will work with our partners and the Crown Prosecution Service to use all available powers at our disposal”.
1 Comment
Another called Cullen this needs to nipped in the bud on all these criminalised thinking they’re above the law make them live like the rest of us have to they’re all foolish fools