Jailed Dealers flooded city with ‘eye-watering’ amount of drugs

TWO drug dealers who were part of a major organised crime group which flooded drugs into Bristol have been jailed.

- Ben HASLEM

Lawrence Hill, 52, left, was jailed for 13 years while Joseph Toole, 55, right, was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

(Merseyside Police)

Joseph Toole and Lawrence Hill appeared at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday after they were found to have played leading roles in the Merseyside-based gang.

Police found encrypted messages on the platform EncroChat where Toole and Hill would liaise with user “JabbaTheHutt” Toole, 55, who went by “SummerHillNew’, and Hill, who went by “Frosty-Hand’; took managerial roles in the wholesale of drugs that were deemed to be in “eye-watering amounts even for an EncroChat case” by Recorder Michelle Brown, who was presiding over the sentencing.

Toole, who was said to “keep books” for the gang, was seen to be a leading player and had a hand in the conspiracy to supply 249kg of cocaine, 125kg of heroin and 441kg of cannabis. Messages found on the server, which was cracked in 2020 by international law enforcement, showed several messages between him and Jabba.