Warrington and Burnley men behind cocaine robbery jailed

The gang were exposed after police cracked the messaging device Enchrochat, which is often used by criminals, and officers then found around £30,000 worth of stolen cocaine hidden in a storage unit in Bury.

Manchester Crown Court heard how the Salford based gang was led by the Cox family from Warrington and included Burnley man, 31-year-old Ben Monks-Gorton.

Detective Inspector Roger Smethurst, of Greater Manchester Police's Serious and Organised Crime Group, said: "The Cox Organised Crime Group are ruthless, career criminals who have successfully been brought to justice.

"Operation Venetic provided a valuable insight into their multi-kilo drug dealing and other criminal operations including a brutal robbery in Liverpool.

Various other people involved in the gang have also been jailed (Image: GMP)

"GMP and our law enforcement partners relentlessly pursued this group even when they attempted to evade capture both in London and Spain.

"Due to the quality of the evidence put before the court they were left with no choice but to plead guilty to their crimes. Communities in the North West will be safer with this group behind bars for many years to come."

The court heard how the men, headed by 37-year-old Jason Cox and his two brothers Lee Cox, 39 and Craig Cox, 34, were involved in a gang that supplied cocaine and cannabis across the North West throughout 2020, which was uncovered by cracking their Enchrochat messages.

Also uncovered by the EncroChat bust was the Coxs' successful plot the previous month to rob two men in a house in Liverpool of around 30 kilos of cocaine worth around £1.2m.

Footage from a nearby house showed a van pull up outside the Liverpool house with Monks-Gorton dressed as a delivery driver along with Jason and Craig Cox with 41-year-old Richard Caswell.

The men went into the house and attacked two men with machetes and axes, inflicting life-changing injuries to the older of the two, before leaving with a bag of the cocaine stash just three minutes later.

They then arranged to distribute the stolen goods, with courier Michael Nevin, 36, told to take 10kg to another Manchester gang.

The gang was led by Jason Cox and his brothers (Image: GMP)

Messages also sent via EncroChat showed Jason asking older brother Lee Cox if he wanted a kilo "for free" after they had “tracked them (victims) up” and had to “chop the c*** up badly in his gaffe.”

But police searching a flat in Fallowfield searched Nevin’s home and found him hiding in the cellar with his iPhone in one hand and EncroChat device in the other.

Nevin was arrested after officers seized more than £28,000 in cash, a food bag of cannabis, weighing scales with Class A drug residue on them, and handwritten notes that included amounts owed by drug customer.

Later that day, officers searched a storage unit in Bury where a further £30,000 worth of cocaine was recovered, later found to be some that had been stolen in the Liverpool robbery.

Months later, the Cox brothers and their associates were arrested after Encrochat was cracked by international law enforcement officers.

The case was heard at Manchester Crown Court (Image: Newsquest)

As the group unravelled, cannabis dealer Jack Brownsill, 24, from Warrington, was tracked down and arrested while Jason and Lee Cox were extradited from the Spanish town of Alicante where they had been arrested in July 2021 when driving in a hire car.

Before the Cox brothers were sentenced this week, various other men had already been jailed for the roles they played.

Michael Martin, 37, from Lower Broughton, was also identified as being involved in the conspiracy and sentenced to three years in jail on November 25, 2021 after admitting one count of money laundering.

Michael Nevin was sentenced to nine years eight months on April 25, 2022 for also admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis, and conspiracy to possess criminal property.

Ben Monks-Gorton, was jailed for six years on April 25, 2022 after admitting conspiracy to commit robbery.

Jack Brownsill denied conspiracy to supply cannabis, conspiracy to possess criminal property, and being concerned in supplying cannabis before being convicted of all three offences by a jury following a trial in February 2022 - he has now begun a four years and three month sentence.

Now the rest of the group have been jailed for a total of 43 years.

Jason Cox, from Warrington, was ordered to serve 14 years and eight months behind bars after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis, conspiracy to possess criminal property and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Craig Cox, from Warrington, was sentenced to 13 years and six months in jail after also pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis, conspiracy to possess criminal property and conspiracy to commit robbery; he also admitted two breaches of a Serious Crime Prevention Order.

Lee Cox, from Swinton, has been sentenced to eight years for admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis, and conspiracy to possess criminal property.

Richard Caswell, from the Kirkdale area of Liverpool, received seven years for conspiracy to supply cocaine and diamorphine, possessing criminal property, and conspiracy to commit robbery.