ILLEGAL AMPHETAMINES MEN JAILED FOR OVER 20 YEARS

AN organised criminal enterprise which hid an illegal amphetamines laboratory inside a legitimate chemical company been sentenced to over 20 years on 10 November 2005.

Although in its early stages, the illicit production process was so sophisticated it had the potential to make the criminal organisation one of the largest amphetamine producers in the country.  It never reached its potential, which could have seen it produce over £1m of amphetamines a week based on the estimated street value,  thanks to a raid on the Liverpool site over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend by the National Crime Squad. Another illicit laboratory based at an isolated farm in Southport was also discovered.

Today at Liverpool Crown Court, the following were sentenced after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class B controlled drugs:-

Leonard William Briscoe-Stubbs, Date Of Birth 07/07/50, of Rullerton Road, Wallasey, Merseyside. He was sentenced to 5 and a half years.

Tony Bodell, Date Of Birth 30/08/55, of New Midge Hall Farm, Martin Mere, Southport. He was sentenced to 5 and a half years.

Ian Kilner, Date Of Birth 24/01/43, of Hatfield Road, Ainsdale, Southport. He was sentenced to 3 and a half years.

Peter Thomas Sanders, Date Of Birth 18/07/58, of Narrow Moss Lane, Scarisbrick, was sentenced to 3 years after pleading guilty to allowing his premises to be used for the manufacture of Class B drugs.

Another man, James Dalton, Date Of Birth 30/06/66, of Richard Kelly Drive, West Derby, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to possession of Class B controlled drugs with intent to supply and was sentenced to 4 years and 9 months.

The court heard how Sanders was the owner and manager of a chemical manufacturing company called Sanchem in Kirkby, Liverpool, and that Kilner, an industrial chemist, was legitimately employed there as a consultant.

The company possessed a specific license issued by chemical industry regulators which allowed it to trade and deal in a number of chemicals, which can be utilised as pre-cursor chemicals to manufacture Class A and Class B synthetic drugs. Such a license meant any movement of large quantities of such pre-cursors to Sanchem would not attract any undue attention from regulators.

Under this license, Sanders ordered in the required pre-cursor chemicals for the subsequent processing into controlled drugs: this is where Bodell and Briscoe came in.

Bodell lived on an isolated farm in Southport and used the outbuildings there to produce Benzyl Methyl Ketone (BMK), an essential ingredient in the production of amphetamine sulphate. Bodell would pick up pre-cursor chemicals - obtained by Sanders via Sanchem - and produce BMK at his farm. The farm location was ideal, as the production of BMK for making amphetamine produces a strong unpleasant odour which would have been noticed had it been carried out at Sanchem.

Bodell would then deliver the BMK to Sanchem, where Kilner and Briscoe would treat it with several chemical processes to turn it into amphetamine paste, using an illicit laboratory they had established within the site. They would work inside this illicit laboratory outside Sanchem's normal working hours.

Briscoe would then take the amphetamine paste to Bodell's cousin, Dalton, for onward distribution.

On Good Friday, March 2005, Sanchem was closed for normal business. Bodell, Kilner and Briscoe attended the site, the latter two seen wearing protective clothing.

Bodell left mid morning to go home, but realising he was being followed by police sped off. Despite the police vehicle having its emergency lights and sirens on, Bodell refused to pull over and only stopped when he grounded the sump of his car. He was arrested, and the reason for his flight soon became apparent when 6 empty 5 gallon containers were found in the rear of his car, along with a quantity of sodium acetate, a pre-cursor chemical and key constituent in the making of BMK. Examination of the residues in the six containers revealed it to be BMK.

In a barn at Bodell's home a rudimentary but effective BMK production laboratory was found. Inside were 1kg of phenyl acetic acid (another necessary ingredient to make BMK), a further five gallons of BMK and a pressure vessel used to 'cook' the BMK.

Following his arrest, officers arrested Kilner and Briscoe at Sanchem, where a search by the National Crime Squad's Illicit Laboratories Unit discovered an illicit laboratory containing all the necessary equipment for producing illicit drugs.

Inside a pressure reaction vessel (a metal container used to heat and mix chemicals in a pressurised environment) traces of M Formyl Amphetamine were found. This chemical is one stage off full amphetamine and cannot be used to produce anything other than this illegal drug. Also recovered were 'recipes' for making controlled drugs.

The estimated wholesale value of pre-cursor chemicals and amphetamine paste seized from both illicit laboratory sites was approximately £225,000. However dependent on purity and when bulked up with adulterant, they could have been in excess of £4.5 m.

Both Sanders and Dalton were arrested the next day.

Sanders at the police cordon placed around the Sanchem site and Dalton at home. Found at Dalton's home were a large quantity of 'cutting agent' and a sports bag (hidden in a bedroom wardrobe) containing 25 packs of amphetamine paste with an estimated street value of £125,000.

"The use of pressure vessels in making illicit drugs is highly sophisticated and this is the first time that such a method of production has been seen in this country.   The group were in the early stages of their amphetamine production business and had not yet perfected the process. The use of pressure reaction vessels in this way meant they had the potential to become one of the largest producers of amphetamine in the country. The sentences reflect the view taken by the court as to the seriousness of these offences but also demonstrates our intention to maximise our efforts to reduce the damaging and harmful effects on our communities through early intervention to eradicate the root cause and source of these problems.  The cooperation and support of the Forensic Science Service, Merseyside Police and Merseyside Fire and Ambulance services were critical to a successful outcome given that the dangers of securing and dismantling the illicit laboratory were increased due to the fact it was based in the middle of a chemical manufacturing site on the Knowsley industrial complex." said Detective Chief Inspector Mark Stirling of the National Crime Squad. 

Liverpool Hosts Major European Conference

HUNDREDS of delegates from throughout Europe will be attending a major conference in Liverpool next week to discuss urban regeneration.  The annual conference of URBACT will be held at St George's Hall on November 14 and 15. It will bring together more than 250 regeneration professionals from 45 cities. They include elected representatives, national and local administrators, civil servants and community representatives,

URBACT is a major European Commission initiative and is centered around 3 objectives; developing exchanges of experience between cities, captialising on lessons learned from those experiences and disseminating this knowledge throughout  European cities. It recognises that cities play a central role in economic growth, employment and competitiveness. But they are, at the same time, confronted with serious problem including unemployment and poverty.  To date, 197 partners are cooperating in the 17 thematic networks, working groups, studies and training actions. 169 of those are cities, 43 in the new member states.

The conference will look at the progress of work and focus on several key concerns that European cities have identified in the URBACT thematic work, namely urban regeneration, cities and young people, cities and immigrants, local development and the role of inhabitants in urban management. The conference will also highlight the key role of cities as the drivers of regional economies and look at innovative approaches developed by cities and their partners using previous and current European programmes such as Objective I and 2 and the URBAN programme.

Liverpool, through the City Council's European team, is lead partner of one of the 17 city networks which make up the URBACT Programme- the "Partners 4 Action" network which consists of 13 cities from across the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Austria, Portugal, Hungary, Cyprus, and Latvia. Cities like Liverpool,Brussels, Porto, and Amsterdam are working together to share and investigate how best to use Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to deliver urban regeneration projects.

Speakers at the conferences include Jean-Loup Drubigny, Director of the URBACT secretariat, Bob Ledsome, of the ODPM, Councillor Mike Storey, Leader of Liverpool City Council and Councillor Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council.

Delegates will also have the opportunity to take part in a tour of Liverpool city centre and to see examples of recent regeneration projects including the Ropewalks area, the Paradise Project and schemes on the waterfront.  They will also be looking at the success of the Speke Garston area. This former rundown industrial area has been totally transformed with major new boulevards and public art, three new industrial and commercial parks and conversion of historic listed buildings into 21^st Century work and leisure space.

Councillor Storey said:- "Liverpool is aiming to be a premier European city so it is very important that we share experiences with partners from throughout the whole of the continent.  We have an opportunity not only to learn of their experiences of urban regeneration but to showcase the successes we have had using European funding."

A reception for conference delegates, hosted by the Lord Mayor, Councillor Alan Dean, will be held in the World Museum on Tuesday 15 November.

Cream on Boxing Night @ Nation, Liverpool

Monday 26 December 2005

THE highs of the summer clubbing season are now well and truly a distant memory, which means we creep nearer to those chilly but festive months and of course Cream’s biggest night of the year on Boxing night.   Nation is the place to be and the Cream team once again have managed to pull together a stellar line up guaranteed to blow them cobwebs away!

Heading up the Main Room will be the awesome Mauro Picotto, after a year long hiatus he jets in on private jet from Belfast especially for the event!   He will be joined by Marco V who is still riding high from his knee trembling and much talked about set at Creamfields, Liverpool legend John Kelly is back by popular demand as are rising stars Adam Sheridan and Cream Ibiza Resident Gareth Wyn.

The Courtyard welcomes former Cream resident and tribal darling Steve Lawler back to the helm.    Now a bastion of cutting edge electronic, Lawler has become a tastemaker for the genre and we expect the tribal masses to be out in full to welcome him with open arms!   In addition we are excited to announce that Eric Prydz will be making his Cream debut on this festive night, building his name as a world renowned DJ, we can expect an eclectic set of full on party house music!   Another Cream debut will be coming from breakthrough Swedish house jock Steve Angello, a remarkable talent that has recently graced the front cover of Mixmag, and is fast garnering support from house music’s biggest superstars.  As if the line up couldn’t get any bigger, we are pleased to welcome Tim Healey and Pete Martin aka Coburn to the hallowed walls of the Courtyard, this duo are currently lighting up dance floors around the globe with their unique blend of house, breaks and rocky electro.  Their recent monster track ‘We Interrupt This Program’ was one of the biggest tracks of the Summer and following in the footsteps of Madonnas favourite DJ Jaques Lu Cont the tune has recently been snapped up for the new Citroen TV advert!

In addition, for this very special night we have lured wanton tribalist Matthew ‘Bushwacka’ B back who will be performing in the infamous Annexe.    A definitive DJ and Producer and one half of renowned duo Layo & Bushwacka, Matthew’s trademark melodic tech house sets are electrifying and not to be missed!   Joining him will be Jon Carter, a man that needs no introduction!  Having rocked the Terrace at Cream Amnesia throughout the Summer he’s back with an arsenal of jackin’ house music to get your body rocking!   The Shapeshifters are also on board along with Lee Ellis & Anthony Probyn.    House Music All Night Long! 

This event is to be broadcast live on Radio City.  As always Cream Boxing Night is expected to sell out.  To avoid disappointment please purchase advance tickets which are on sale now! 

Event Details:- Nation, Wolstenholme Square, (Off Slater Street), Liverpool, Merseyside.

Times:- 10pm to 6am

Price:- £21.50 (NUS) / £26.50, more on the door, Last entry is 1am,

Dresscode:- Strictly No Sportswear.

Cream Tickets:-  0870 2427 326

Radio City Box Office:- 0151 256 5555

Ticketmaster (24hr):- 0870 902 0001.

Cream Tickets & More Info:-  www.cream.co.uk