A murderer released early from a life sentence embedded himself in the Liverpool underworld after leaving jail.
Michael Brown changed his name and went into landscaping work in an apparent bid to escape his shocking past.
But he was today given a new life sentence for his role as an EncroChat drug dealer who tried to place himself at the heart of the gun and grenade trade.
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Brown was one of two doormen who stabbed to death innocent Colin McGinty after mistaking the 21-year-old for a gangland rival.
In 2001 he was sentenced to life with a recommended minimum term of 18 years for his part in the horrific attack, in which his victim was stabbed 15 times on a Bootle street.
Brown was, however, released in 2017 after serving just 16 years behind bars.
He changed his name to Michael Hoy and set himself up as a landscaper in what, from the outset, appeared to be an attempt to lead a different lifestyle.
However, Liverpool Crown Court heard the now 42-year-old quickly returned to a prominent position within the region’s underworld through his use of a device featuring the encrypted messaging service EncroChat.
Using the codename TimelyBeta, Hoy worked with Patrick Murray - whose handle was WeirdGun - to try and broker deals for grenades and guns.
Phillip Moran, Murray’s uncle and whose handle was KeptHawk, was also linked to their gun plot while all three men were involved in drug dealing.
Stephen McNally, prosecuting, said: “The prosecution case is that these three defendants were users of what are known as EncroChat devices.
“EncroChat devices are encrypted communications devices which have very particular security features.
“For that reason, they were almost exclusively used by serious and organised criminals to conduct illegal activity in a way that they thought protected them from the law enforcement authorities… The evidence in respect to these three defendants was predominantly derived from EncroChat messages sent and received using their respective handles.
“The nature of the messages was such that the prosecution case was that there could be no doubt about the involvement of the users of those handles in the conspiracies alleged.”
Messages obtained by police after EncroChat was hacked in an international criminal investigation showed Hoy and Murray referring to “apples” - slang for grenades.
In one message from April 2020, Hoy asked Murray: “You got a pic of them new apples mate.”
Murray, 25 and of Gloucester Road in Huyton, replied: “No mate but there meant to belters - I can try get viewing on them if need”. Hoy responded: “This fella wants them all. 1250 told him.”
The two shared similar conversations about guns.
Stephen McNally, prosecuting, said they “were prepared to trade in firearms and ammunition at a significant level”.
On April 12, 2020, Murray sent Hoy a stock list featuring two AK47s, an Uzi and three Grand Power pistols.
Three days later, Hoy asked Murray: “My mate wants a revolver if there mate? Any joy on them apples or shall I tell him no mate?”.
Hoy then messaged another EncroChat user NiccoloMachiavell with a price, prompting a response asking how many “men” - which like the term “sweets” is slang for rounds of ammunition - the deal included.
In separate messages Murray was in contact with a user in the Netherlands called LesserHoney who appeared to have access to 50 Glock handguns.
Moran was prosecuted for gun offences after he was caught asking his nephew: “How much is a cheap mettle thing to me with sweets.”
Murray told him “….ye looking at least 5-6k”.
Moran replied “Thanks mate …better safe than sorry”.
The court heard it was not the prosecution case that Hoy or Murray had possession of the weapons they discussed, or that any of the deals they described were concluded, but that the messages between them made it clear they were involved in the trade of grenades and guns.
There is also no evidence Moran, 51, acquired a gun.
Murray admitted conspiracy to possess explosives and conspiracies to possess, purchase or acquire prohibited firearms and ammunition.
Hoy was found guilty of those crimes by a trial jury that also found Moran guilty of conspiracies to possess, purchase or acquire prohibited firearms and ammunition.
All three men were also prosecuted for drugs offences.
Murray pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply around 5kgs of cocaine and 3.75kgs of heroin.
Moran, who acted as a courier for Murray, was convicted of conspiracy to supply a total of around 2.5kg of cocaine and heroin and conspiracy to supply cannabis.
Hoy, of Cranford Road in Garston, was convicted of two counts of conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin, a separate count of conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to supply the Class B drugs cannabis, ketamine and amphetamines.
He was linked to dealing around 8kgs of cocaine, 1kg of heroin and at least 40kgs of Class B drugs.
Damian Nolan, defending Hoy, said his client still maintained his innocence and that he had been wrongly linked to the EncroChat handle TimelyBeta.
This was despite evidence showing that his contacts nicknamed him “life” - an apparent reference to the life term he served - and that, when asked by TaxingCanine what his real name was, the account’s response referred to Hoy’s former name in a message that simply read: “I’m Mike Brown.”
Mr Nolan said that, although his client quickly returned to serious criminality following his release from jail for murder, there did appear to be an initial attempt to stay out of trouble.
He said Hoy started up a landscaping and gardening business that attracted lucrative contracts before hitting trouble when the construction company Carillion collapsed then suffering personal issues.
Mr Nolan said all he could ask for was that the judge imposed as small a sentence as possible, adding: “He is a man who, but for a number of years that can be counted on one hand, has been in prison his entire adult life.”
Matthew Buckland, defending Murray, said his client had admitted the allegations against him and retained the support of his family.
He described Murray’s role as that of “a broker looking to insert himself between a willing seller and a willing buyer” before telling the court it was accepted he would face a long sentence, adding: “It is sad to say a large fraction of what should be the best years of his life will be wasted behind bars.”
John Wyn-Williams, defending Moran, said: “On any view he played a limited role as far as the firearms are concerned.”
He said his client, of Alder Road in Newton-le-Willows, expressed “genuine remorse” and added that debt and fear for his four children “may have been the catalyst for his involvement in this offending”.
Judge Robert Trevor-Jones accepted there was no evidence Hoy or Murray acquired any grenades but concluded they were involved in trading the “highly dangerous explosive devices which are normally only associated with military use”.
Of the gun charges, the judge said: “Once more it is clear that you, Patrick Murray, and you, Michael Hoy, were arranging to trade in such items at a significant level.”
Referring to their conversations about AK47s and an Uzi, he said: “It states the obvious, perhaps, that they stand as the most dangerous and lethal weapons and can only be destined for use in the criminal community with potentially devastating results.”
While there was no evidence Murray or Hoy planned to use guns, he said they were “clearly planning for others to be able to do so”.
Judge Trevor-Jones added: “You were in negotiations which inherently created a risk that such items would, in due course, come into the possession of committed criminals… You both had substantial links to others in the chain of conspirators and you had expectations of financial advantage.”
He concluded that such was the severity of Murray and Hoy’s offences that both should be handed life sentences.
Murray was sentenced to life with a minimum of five-and-a-half years for the explosives and guns charges and a further 11 years and six months for his drug offences, of which he will serve at least half.
This means Murray will serve at least 11 years and three months in jail before he can be considered for release.
Hoy was sentenced to life with a minimum of six years for the explosive and gun offences plus an additional 14 years for the drugs crimes, of which he will serve at least half.
This means he will serve a minimum of 13 years before he can apply for parole.
Moran was sentenced to five years for his firearms offences, six years for his drugs crimes and a further year for breaching a suspended sentence.
He was, therefore, sentenced to a total of 12 years in jail, of which he will serve at least half.
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