Brutal enforcer who scalped woman in savage attack helped source grenades and guns for gang boss

A notorious gang enforcer with a history of violence across Merseyside and Europe helped source grenades and a firearm for his boss after his stash house was raided.

Fifty-eight-year-old Paul "Woody" Woodford has a notorious past in Merseyside's criminal gangland. However, following the removal of extensive reporting restrictions, the ECHO this week revealed his association with Huyton Firm boss Vincent Coggins and his role in a menacing blackmail plot that resulted in a terrified dad handing over a house and land worth £1m over fears of what would happen to his son if he didn't.

Woodford, under the handle "Kingwasp" on the encrypted messaging platform EncroChat, communicated with Coggins, his older brother Francis and a number of other associates including Edward Jarvis and Michael Earle. As well as sourcing multi-kilo Class A drug hauls that they distributed across their elaborate networks, the gangsters also plotted revenge on anyone who crossed them.

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Little did they know that that their messages were being monitored by police officers after the EncroChat network was hacked by European authorities in April 2020. After Vincent Coggins' drugs were robbed, from a stash house on Croxdale Road West in May 2020, he and his associates formulated a plan to recover their contraband and punish those responsible.

However, fearing for the safety of the gang's targets - who weren't responsible for the robbery - law enforcement stepped in and arrested them. But looking back at Woodford's history paints a worrying picture - one of a man completely unafraid of using the most devastating violence if it benefited him.

Woodford built a formidable reputation during the 1990s across the south Sefton estates, from Litherland to Aintree, before he then became associated with the Huyton Firm. Woodford's violence first came to the attention of the media when he appeared in court regarding a particularly disturbing attack at a woman's house in 1995.

Woodford, seemingly for no reason, had snuck into her house before attacking her with a machete. As she cowered behind a chair, he pulled her up by her ponytail, and while shouting "Apache", hacked it off. His only defence was that someone had spiked his drink with drugs while in a pub that night.

Woodford launched into the attack while he was on bail for another incident, where he tortured a man with a hot iron, machete and knives. He was eventually sentenced to seven years in prison at Liverpool Crown Court for intent to commit grievous bodily harm and affray.

It's believed it was after his release from prison that Woodford fell in with the Coggins organisation. Woodford operated in both Amsterdam and Spain, and a European Arrest Warrant was issued for him in 2008. He was extradited from Holland to Spain but then released without charge.

It is understood that in 2010, Woodford, then 45, was deployed to Amsterdam along with a heavily-armed gang. However, following a tip-off from UK police, Woodford and the rest of the team, including four Merseysiders, were arrested. The ECHO previously reported how the gang may have planned a string of executions across the Dutch capital.

They were armed with automatic rifles, a pistol, revolver and ammunition. The raid, in which two men were stopped in the street, three in a car and the sixth in a house, was carried out by the Quick Response Unit of the Regional Criminal Investigation Service.

Woodford was sentenced to seven months in prison after being found guilty of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition at the end of a two-week trial. After he completed his sentence, he was held in extradition custody by the Dutch authorities for several days, until Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCU) officers arrived and brought him back to the UK. He was jailed again - this time for two years and eight months, after he pleaded guilty to six counts of deception.

Jason Osu - a 31-year-old pilot - was shot and killed outside his home on Beauclair Drive, Wavertree in November 2012. Two years later gunmen Delta cab driver Paul Croxton and Thomas White - and George McGovern - an organiser of the shooting - were jailed for life. Woodford went on trial the following year accused of organising the murder, as well as the attempted murder of another man, Darren Alcock, and involvement over a spate of shootings in Maghull.

Prosecutors had alleged that a web of phone contact between Woodford and Croxton at the times of critical events showed his “behind the scenes” plotting and planning of the violence. But the jury were told that Woodford was an “innocent man in a living hell” and that he had no knowledge that Croxton, his cannabis supplier, was a gun-for-hire.

Woodford slashed his own throat in prison midway through the trial which left him needing scores of stitches and struggling to speak. Woodford then parted with his experienced defence team and, right up until a barrister was enlisted to present a closing address to the jury, took on the onerous challenge of representing himself.

He refused to answer any questions in the witness box, telling jurors that was because he was missing five teeth through surgery to his neck and “hard to understand”. After a seven week trial and five days of deliberations, a jury at Manchester Crown Court found Woodford not guilty of all offences.

Woodford's criminality went under the radar of law enforcement for a number of years, but following the EncroChat hack, police saw his involvement in the Coggins gang. The ECHO understands Woodford was supplied by the gang, and in turn was deployed by them as an enforcer.

After the gang's stash house was raided, Woodford quickly offered his services. After Vincent Coggins obtained names for who he believed was behind the raid, Woodford offered to buy him a firearm and ammunition, while another associate, Michael Earle, was deployed to sort "a pineapple" - a term used to refer to a hand grenade.

When Vincent Coggins told Woodford of his plan to kill them with the hand grenade, Woodford responded: "I kill him with u m8". His target was Brian Maxwell, a professional drug dealer who later used the EncroChat phone network to source weapons including semi-automatic AR-15 rifles and an AK47 to protect himself from attack. Even when presented with potential evidence that Maxwell Jr could not have been involved in the robbery because he had CCTV of him at home all day and advised to leave it until the following day, Vincent Coggins refused.

Vincent Coggins reported to Earle his intention at approaching Brian Maxwell’s dad, Brian Maxwell Sr, with an ultimatum. Return the drugs or the money, or he would pay. Having monitored the messages, the police took their first steps to disrupt Vincent Coggins’ plans. On May 27 they visited Brian Maxwell Jr’s home and issued him with a threat to life notice, also known as an Osman warning.

Armed police also visited an address linked to Vincent Coggins to issue a disruption notice - a warning not to engage in any criminal activity. Undeterred, he continued to set in motion plans to kill Brian Maxwell Jr, as well as two other men he believed were involved - Michael Eves and Iyobosa ‘Bosa’ Igbinovia. On May 28 Jarvis messaged Vincent Coggins alleged evidence that the pair considered incriminating the three men even further in the robbery.

An EncroChat message at around 2.30pm that day said: “..he told me they were all out together Maxwell boser eves Saturday afternoon til Sunday for anniversary drink…so Maxwell saying he got CCTV of himself not leaving house on Saturday is a f***ing lie”. Later that day Coggins messaged Fitzsimmons saying “they all getting it”.

The Maxwells communicated with Vincent Coggins, Earle and Jarvis through a third party, a man who is still due to appear before the courts so can’t be identified. Fearing an attack on his son was imminent, Maxwell Sr sent a proposal to the gang.

He knew his son had not committed the robbery but understanding the threat said “me solution involves me and me alone paying the bill and then its me that’s been robbed, I’d rather have him than the money…and it wont be in grip coz I haven’t got it any more than he has…then its down to me to find out who done it…any money I’ve got means f*** all if he dead”.

Maxwell Sr offered around £1,360,000 to Vincent Coggins, split into cash and the sale of land and a house. Vincent Coggins accepted the offer. But a chilling message to Earle later the same day showed it was just a temporary peace. “F*** me still going to kill them all but can take time now leave dad alone”, he wrote.

On June 3, Maxwell Sr signed over the money, the land and the house. On June 13 2020, EncroChat administrators sent all users the message that the domain had been compromised and they could no longer guarantee the security of the devices. They advised users to power off and to physically dispose of their devices. Three days later, Vincent Coggins, Woodford, Earle and Jarvis were all arrested by the police.

After being charged with a number of offences, Woodford pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs and conspiracy to commit blackmail. He was jailed for 24-and-a-half years, which can now be revealed following the removal of reporting restrictions. His gangster associates Vincent Coggins and Michael Earle pleaded guilty to the same offences and were sentenced to 28 years and 11 years respectively.

Dean Borrows, aged 39 and of Ledson Grove in Aughton, 46-year-old Darren Tierney, of Chatham Street in Stockport, and 60-year-old Paul Fitzsimmons, of Birch Tree Court in West Derby, admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin. They were handed respective terms 14 years and three months, 12 years and nine months and 12-and-a-half years.

Kevin Rimmer, of Blacklow Brow in Huyton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin. The 57-year-old was locked up for 16 years. Paul Glynn, of Croxdale Road West in West Derby, admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine. The 59-year-old was given 11 years and two months.

Edward Jarvis, of Breckside Park in Anfield, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and conspiracy to commit blackmail. The 59-year-old will be sentenced at a later date. Francis Coggins is currently wanted and is believed to be in Europe.

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