A dad stored a terrifying haul of weapons including an MP5 machine gun on behalf of the criminal underworld. Christopher Winder, 43, kept four deadly firearms, including a Glock pistol and a revolver in a secret location for a drugs boss.
The boss, named in court as EncroChat user 'Wanted Soldier', also oversaw a huge cocaine conspiracy worth at least £1.3 million. His alleged 'right hand man' Reece Bradbury, 28, acted as a gofer for Wanted Soldier, delivering drugs and cash.
Bradbury was linked to at least 15 kilos of cocaine, and also dealt four kilos of cannabis on his own. Winder and Bradbury, both from Salford, have both been locked up following the law enforcement hack of the EncroChat network, a highly secretive communication network used by organised crime.
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The hacking provided police with enough evidence to see the pair locked up for 11 years and three months and nine-and-a-half years respectively. The weapons spoken about by Winder and Wanted Soldier on the EncroChat network, which police discovered pictures of, remain on the streets.
Manchester Crown Court heard that Bradbury was a 'distributor' of cocaine, working with Wanted Soldier. As the first coronavirus lockdown was imposed in April 2020, Bradbury discussed posing as a Domino's pizza delivery driver while out on roads as part of their drug dealing, to avoid attention when the roads were quiet.
"Left you a dominoes hat in slot car for someone to blend," Bradbury told EncroChat user Wanted Soldier, using the EncroChat handle 'Big Bradderz'. The gang also used vehicles with a hidden compartment, which they referred to as a 'slot car', to keep illicit items away from prying eyes.
Prosecuting, Jamie Baxter said the scale of the gang's drug dealing operation was revealed by a debtors list sent by Wanted Soldier to a courier the outfit used. The list sent to the courier totalled £1.3 million, and in an EncroChat message Wanted Solider said he'd sent it to him 'in case I get nicked, so dream can continue'.
Detectives were also able to uncover conversations Winder had with Wanted Soldier about firearms. Winder said the four firearms and ammunition were stored at an unknown house belonging to a 'third party'.
Mr Baxter said the gang considered it to be 'a very safe storage location indeed'. "Not been down much, but they good in there for another seven years," Winder said of the hiding place.
At one stage Winder asked Wanted Soldier if he could move the firearms out of the house they were being stored in. "CBA that hanging over me, pure jail in there," he said.
He added: "Tbh I got bit para bro, there's a right arsenal there haha." In a further message, Winder said: "Next time owt like this happens mate need to proper let loose with the MP5, cut f****** in half.
"Only thing they pay attention to these days." Police raided both of their homes earlier this year.
"These offences involve you having stored weapons and ammunition, pistols and an automatic weapon, guns that you knew full well could only be useful to those involves in serious crime," sentencing Judge Nicholas Dean KC told Winder.
The pair will both serve half of their sentences in prison. Defending Bradbury, Oliver Cook denied the defendant was Wanted Soldier's 'right hand man', and said there 'no real distinction in terms of hierarchy' of those lower than him in the chain.
He also claimed Bradbury's involvement in the cocaine conspiracy was to the tune of 10 kilos, rather than 15 kilos. Mr Cook said Bradbury, whose first child was born while he has been on remand in jail, had a 'difficult' upbringing.
Before the Covid lockdown he'd begun training as an electrician in the film industry, Mr Cook said. Simon Gurney, defending, said Winder was a 'middle man' for the guns and only had a 'limited' role in the cocaine conspiracy.
"In truth he was a customer of the conspiracy," the lawyer said. "This was a man living on benefits, he wasn't making a substantial financial benefit."
Mr Gurney said dad-of-two Winder had gone straight following a spell in prison for conspiracy to rob, but fell back into crime after his relationship broke down and he began 'associating with the wrong people'. Bradbury, of Pullman Grove, Worsley, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply cannabis and possession of cannabis.
Winder, of Melville Road, Cadishead, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to transfer a prohibited weapon and conspiracy to transfer ammunition.
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