Veteran soldier and boxing hopeful throws life away for £6k

A veteran and boxing hopeful threw his life away for the sake of £6,000 when he became involved in the supply of class A drugs at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic

A veteran threw his life away all for the sake of £6,000 as he adopted the EncroChat handle "ApeChest" while he was out of work during the Covid-19 pandemic. Darren Spencer, 49, served two tours of Northern Ireland and looked destined for a professional boxing career at one point.

But it was during the early months of 2020 when he was out of work and had left the family home that Spencer became involved in the supply of class A drugs on the encrypted messaging service EncroChat. Alex Langhorn, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court yesterday, Friday, September 20, that Spencer largely acted as a broker who "arranged orders and collected debts".

One of the people who worked with Spencer was James Roberts, 42, who worked as a drug supplier and was further up the chain wit contacts abroad including in South America. Roberts, who used the EncroChat handles "SwiftFail" and "RoboticGold" was responsible for handling "larger sums of drugs and directed couriers to supply them," the Liverpool Echo reports.

However, following the hacking of the EncroChat network in early 2020 by European law enforcement, Merseyside Police had access to hundreds of thousands of conversations involving criminals in the region and across the wider UK. In a brief opening summary to the court, Mr Langhorn told the court that the two men were indicted in the same count on conspiracy to supply heroin.

On April 6 2020, using the 'SwiftFail' handle, Roberts directed another user under the name 'JuicyHyena' to write down the details of a 6kg sale of heroin to 'GinCleaner'. Messages showed that Spencer, in his role as the broker, chased the money, but when 'GinCleaner' hadn't paid, turned back to Roberts for advice.

A message from Roberts to Spencer said: "F***ing clown this c***" and told Spencer to threaten him. It wasn't revealed if Spencer proceeded to make any threats. All in all the crown and Spencer's defence accepted in three separate conspiracies he handled 25kg of drugs and £150,000 of cash.

Roberts, who played a more leading role in the hierarchy, was in the position to source larger consignments. Mr Langhorn told the court that messages recovered by the police showed Roberts in contact with user 'FitzStopper', who was in Columbia. Discussions between the pair showed the plot to smuggle 100kg of cocaine through Southampton docks, but Mr Langhorn said there was no evidence to show the drugs arrived.

However, the prosecutor said messages showed if the drugs would have been collected they would have then been distributed. Roberts was also involved in considerable payments. On one example, he transferred out £169,000. The prosecution said across three separate conspiracies Roberts was involved in around 220kg of class A drugs, and handled over £1.7m in cash.

The court heard that both men were arrested on November 8 last year. When Spencer’s home was recovered £2,000 in cash was seized, while an unspecified amount of money was found at Roberts’. Both men answered no comment during police interview, although Spencer accepted the EncroChat's attribution.

Mr Langhorn told the court Roberts had two previous convictions for five offences including battery and more importantly a conviction for conspiracy to supply cocaine in 2010. Spencer had two convictions for two offences for actual bodily harm as a juvenile and possession of a firearm without a certificate.

Spencer, of Regent Road in Vauxhall, and Roberts, of The Pottery in Melling, previously appeared before the lower courts where they both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin, conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to transfer criminal property. They were both remanded before appearing for sentence today.

In mitigation, Matthew Ryding KC, representing Spencer, told the court although the prosecution said his client was a broker, his role was more of a middleman. He said Spencer’s main job was collecting debts and chasing up payments instead of sourcing and selling drugs.

Mr Ryding said his client has not had a history of drug dealing and had an impressive military record. He told the court his client had joined the army at 19 and served two tours of Northern Ireland before becoming a fitness trainer. A reference read out in court from a former military officer described Spencer as “a professional soldier known for his hard work and dedication”.

Mr Ryding said his client left the army and had hopes of becoming a professional boxer and in the years since has held down various jobs in security, property management, maintenance and as a black cab driver. However, the offending in question came at a period “where his life dipped in lockdown”.

Mr Ryding said: “This happened at a time when he had temporarily moved out of the family home…were it not for a difficult situation he would not have been tempted. He hopes the judge recognises good people can make very bad mistakes.” The court heard Spencer had stepped in to provide for his family at a period of time when he was out of work.

Mr Ryding described his client as “an attractive proposition because of what he had done in the past” and called him a “reliable person who isn’t easily intimidated”. The senior barrister added: “He is determined to be the father he didn’t have...and considers being a father one of his proudest achievements”.

He added: “It’s a personal tragedy that for most of his life he has been a positively good character, but knows he will spend his 50th birthday in prison away from his family”. Mr Ryding added that although Spencer was collecting large quantities of drug debts, he received “modest remunerations of around £6,000”.

Roberts’ defence counsel Daniel Jones told the court it was accepted his client had a leadership role, but was not at the top. He told the court that in the years between the conspiracy period in 2020 and his guilty pleas in 2023, the defendant started his own company doing groundwork.

Mr Jones said the legitimate business had a number of employees and “demonstrated that when he is involved in non-criminal activity he is a man who can contribute to society”. The court heard Roberts had been ill during the conspiracy period with Covid-19 and was “lucky to survive”.

Mr Jones also told the court his client’s wife and child had both recently been ill and added: “This took a toll and he is struggling with not having been able to be there for the recovery of his wife and son after very serious, life-threatening operations”.

Sentencing, His Honour Judge Brian Cummings KC said that due to the men’s involvement in drug dealing being part of large commercial operation, he had to weigh up a variety of factors including how far up the chain they were and the length of time the conspiracy went on for.

The judge determined Roberts’ role was more serious and the extent of the conspiracies he was involved in were greater. He told the court Roberts' “most appropriate description is leading role although lower rather than higher” and said his previous drug conviction was a significant aggravating factor. He sentenced him to 13 years and four months.

Judge Cummings told Spencer he had extensive personal mitigation relating to his military history. He sentenced the older man to eight years in prison. Both men, who sported greying hair and smart black jumpers, thanked the judge as they were led to the cells.