Yahoo News 'You are my role model…' son who idolised dad follows his father to jail
A son who followed his father into crime after describing him as his ‘role model’ has joined him behind bars. Junnaid Tufail was just 19 when he started committing crime with his father Asim Tufail.
Junnaid looked up to his dad despite him being absent for much of his childhood after receiving a 12 year sentence for drug dealing. When he got out, rather than changing his ways Asim Tufail just carried on, adding gun running and an international money laundering operation to his crimes.
He was also called in by other criminals to assist with ‘enforcement’ in underworld disputes, Minshull Street Crown Court heard. Earlier this year, Asim Tufail, 52, received a 23 year jail sentence. Now his son, 24, has been locked up for 11 years.
“This was organised crime at a very high level,” Judge Jonathan Seely said. “It would be an understatement to say that your father was far from the ideal role model,” the judge told Junnaid Tufail.
The pair, from Northenden, ‘were in it together’, prosecutors said. They were among the criminals whose lives were turned upside down by the law enforcement infiltration of the EncroChat communications network, after believing they were committing crime with impunity.
Within EncroChat Asim was known as ‘Assassin New’, and his son as ‘Baby Assassin’. Asim’s reputation within the criminal underworld was ‘well established’ and ‘well known’, with his son relying on his father for ‘stock’.
In one message on the platform, Junnaid boasted that he had a ‘box of grenades’ for sale as well as firearms. He was also involved in cocaine dealing.
Prosecutors told of one such gun plot in which Junnaid and his father had arranged to sell firearms to an associate for £14,000. Prosecutor Tim Storrie KC said the handover had been arranged to take place in Moston, but that on delivery it was found that the buyer had been ‘cheated’ and that the firearms were ‘fake’.
At first Asim accused his son, but Junnaid maintained he was a ‘victim’ himself and pleaded that he ‘would never make us look like tramps’. "You are my role model," Junnaid told his father in a message. “Junnaid had to fight for his reputation as an honest broker and a dependable criminal,” Mr Storrie said. “His father Asim was deployed to resolve the upset. He feared the people with whom he had been dealing would wreak revenge.”
The pair were arrested at Manchester Airport on January 18, 2021, as they waited to board a flight to Dubai. They were found to both be wearing luxury watches, with a diamond encrusted Rolex worth £70,000 on Asim’s wrist, with his son wearing a £11,000 Rolex When questioned, Asim denied any involvement in criminality.
Junnaid Tufail had no previous convictions. His barrister Khadim Al'Hassan described the defendant as a ‘Walter Mitty character’ who had been ‘taken for a ride’ himself. He said: “This offending has effectively demonstrated, I hope, that dipping his toes into the big boy league has burnt him.” Mr Al’Hassan said the defendant had experienced a ‘difficult’ childhood and had spent time in care.
Bu the judge told Junnaid Tufail: “Not only did you choose to involve yourself in that very high level organised criminal activity, but you did so, in my judgement, with your eyes wide open, enthusiastically, and fully aware of the potential rewards. You took that risk to get involved in very serious criminality. It is a risk. If things go wrong, you face the consequences. That’s what you must do now.”
Asim’s barrister Elouise Marshall KC said there was an ‘element of bravado’ and ‘showing off’ in his EncroChat messages. Asim Tufail was sentenced in April. His son’s case was adjourned at that stage for further pre-sentence reports to be drawn up.
Two other men were also previously sentenced for their roles. Danny Parmar, 42, dealt in cocaine and cannabis and was also involved in a firearm plot with Asim Tufail, EncroChat messages revealed. He was jailed for nine years.
Peter Lawler, 53, had been recruited as a courier to collect a gun as part of a deal involving Asim. He said he didn’t know the specifics of what was being couriered. He was jailed for four years and four months.
Asim Tufail, of Kenmore Road, Northenden, was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs, three counts of conspiring to sell or transfer a prohibited weapon, two counts of blackmail and one count of money laundering. He was found not guilty of one count of being concerned in the production of class B drugs. Junnaid Tufail, of the same address, pleaded guilty after his trial had started to one count of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and two counts of conspiring to sell or transfer a prohibited weapon.
Parmar, of Ashbourne Avenue, Bolton pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply cannabis and one count of conspiring to sell or transfer a prohibited weapon. Lawler, of Eton Court, Allerton, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to participating in the activities of an organised crime group, and possessing heroin with intent to supply.
After the hearing, Detective Chief Inspector Zoe Russo, from North West Regional Organised Crime Unit’s Investigation Team, said: “This crime group mistakenly thought that they could get away with conducting their criminal business by using the encrypted mobile platform EncroChat – but they were sadly mistaken. My officers worked meticulously to identify who the Encro handles belonged to, to ensure the organised crime group were brought to justice.
“We uncovered within the EncroChat data images of firearms he was conspiring to supply which could have caused serious harm and devastation in our community. Thankfully, the crime group have now been sentenced for their crimes and will spend a significant period of time in custody.
"I hope this outcome demonstrates that the NWROCU is unrelenting in its pursuit of offenders and that we work tirelessly to proactively investigate serious organised crime, including the use of guns and the supply and distribution of drugs in our region."
