Man's trip to the chippy ends with him in jail for decades

A man's trip to the chippy led to him being put behind bars for nearly 30 years.

Thomas Speed was identified as the user of the EncroChat handle "Simple Creek" after his supposedly secret messages showed him referencing a chip shop near to his house, as well as his tarmacking business.

He and two other men, James Salkeld and Scott Roseau, were handed a combined total of more than 65 years behind bars on Monday, having used the encrypted communications platform to traffic firearms and wholesale quantities of class A drugs.

A trial at Liverpool Crown Court heard that Speed and Roseau were involved in the supply of heroin and cocaine "on a commercial level", trading in kilogram quantities for tens of thousands of pounds apiece. They also used the accounts "SimpleCreek" and "MysticKangaroo" respectively in order to thrash out deals for guns before the network was infiltrated by the French police during 2020, the Liverpool Echo reports.

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Stephen McNally, prosecuting, described how the former was linked to his username by the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit after being referred to as "Tom" by other users, while he also told the user "FlameCalm" that he was called "Speedy" during one conversation. Speed, of Moorhey Road in Maghull, was meanwhile asked "that u tarmac?" by "SlightDrake" on March 30 2020, having been the owner of a business named Maghull Surfacing Limited.

The 37-year-old further referenced this line of work when speaking with "HuntedElf" on April 2, sending a picture of paving stones that he had pulled up alongside the message: "Got 35m2 to do this street, then I'm done. Easy day, flag out, mac in."

Speed later arranged a meeting with "SkiBat" on April 14 by saying: "Go to the shops by ours mate. The Seabreeze chippy, I'll be there in 10."

His home was said to have been located only "a matter of yards away and a one minute drive" away. The dad also sent a picture of his children playing inside his living room to Hunted Elf, informed "KingWasp" that it was his birthday on April 26 and referenced being subjected to a serious assault in which he suffered head injuries and attended Aintree Hospital on May 8.

Roseau - of Daubeney Road in Hackney, East London - was meanwhile unmasked as Mystic Kangaroo through messages which saw his name given away. Cell siting and automatic number plate recognition data also linked the movement of the 41-year-old's Encro phone, personal mobile and rented Mercedes.

And Salkeld was shown to have been the user of the handle "BestGolfer" through messages concerning the arrest of his brother, a trip to Amsterdam and the death of a family member. The 37-year-old, of Delamore Street in Kirkdale, had to be extradited back to the UK from the Netherlands following his arrest in November 2022, having also used EncroChat to plot the supply of firearms, heroin, cocaine and cannabis.

Speed's previous convictions include receiving three-and-a-half years for a class A drug trafficking in 2008. Alaric Walmsley, defending, told the court: "There have been large proportions of his life where he has engaged in legitimate and, to some degree, successful businesses.

"He has, for whatever reasons, adopted this way in which to make a living back in 2020. Before that, your honour sees the businesses he had built up in the past that have been able to support his family in a legitimate way."

Roseau's criminal record contains entries for possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence in 2003 and supply heroin in 2007 following the recovery of a quantity of the class A drug, £10,000 in cash and a bag of bullets, shell casings and gunpowder. His counsel Jon Harrison said: "He was last sentenced by a court some 17 years ago.

"Prior to 2003, he was someone in further education and working towards a legitimate and positive lifestyle before an incident arose out of a children's party and became a serious adult situation with a firearm. He developed an addiction to heroin, which led to his other offences."

"Mr Roseau got clean and fathered three children and took responsibility for another with substantial needs. He had his life back on track, although the jury concluded that he was indeed Mystic Kangaroo."

Mr Harrison submitted that it could not be concluded that any deal for a firearm had been successfully concluded, adding: "There was no evidence of a lavish lifestyle. He was not someone who could be said to own anything of any real value.

"He has a number of dependants who are going to be negatively affected by his absence. Mr Roseau wishes to be back with them as soon as possible."

Salkeld has previous convictions for antisocial behaviour and driving matters, last coming before the courts when receiving eight months for affray in 2019. Sam Parham said on his behalf: "A letter from his ex-partner is evidence of a positive side to his his character.

"His remorse, we put forward, is genuine. We say that manifests itself in how he is conducting himself in custody.

"He has engaged extremely positively with the Samaritans and played a positive role there. He has put his remorse to practical effect and achieved positive results for others and a very positive change in himself."

Speed was found guilty of conspiracy to possession firearms for sale or transfer, conspiracy to possess ammunition and conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine by a jury. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was imprisoned for 28 years.

Roseau was convicted of two counts of conspiracy to possess firearms, two charges of conspiracy to possess ammunition and conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine. His supporters burst into tears and walked out of the courtroom as he was handed 22 years.

Salkeld pleaded guilty to conspiracy possess firearms and ammunition and conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine and cannabis. He was locked up for 15 years and four months.

Sentencing, Judge Louise Brandon said that Speed had an "ability to source firearms as and when" while Salkeld had "acted as a go between" in the supply of guns, adding: "You have contributed to the degradation and human misery that drugs cause to those who take them, the family of those who taken them and the wider society affected by crime. It is inevitable that your own families will also suffer."