Cocaine raid brothers ordered to pay back profits

Two drug-dealing brothers who stole cocaine worth £1.3m from a notorious Merseyside gang have been ordered to hand over £80,000 or face further jail time.

Jason Cox, 38, and Craig Cox, 35, were jailed in 2023 for conspiracy to commit robbery, conspiracy to possess criminal property and supplying cocaine and cannabis.

The men. from Salford, were told failure to pay would result in nine months being added to their prison sentences during a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing at Manchester Crown Court on Wednesday.

A judge concluded Jason Cox had earned £1,856,944, from his criminal activities and his brother £1,674,443 - but each had just over £40,000 left in available assets.

In May 2020 they along with two accomplices raided a house where drugs were stored in West Derby, Liverpool, leaving the occupier with severe machete injuries.

The cocaine belonged to a violent criminal gang known as the Huyton Firm, run by Knowsley brothers Vincent and Francis Coggins.

The robbery set off a chain of events that a court heard appeared to be heading towards a series of murders - but police stepped in after accessing the gang's messages by infiltrating the Encrochat encrypted messaging network.

Prosecutors in his sentencing hearing outlined how Vincent Coggins wrongly concluded that another Liverpool based drug-dealer, Brian Maxwell jnr, was responsible and discussed having him killed.

Maxwell's father, Brian Maxwell snr, became aware his son's life was at risk and negotiated with Coggins, offering to hand-over property and cash worth in excess of £1m to cover his losses even though he knew his son was not involved.

Coggins, who was jailed for 28 years for blackmail and drugs trafficking, said he would accept the deal but in messages to his criminal allies suggested he would "kill them in few months wen [sic] its all calm down", the court heard.

It only emerged after Merseyside Police rounded up members of the Huyton Firm that the Cox brothers were in fact responsible for the robbery - having been tipped-off by a Liverpool drug-dealer called Richard Caswell who joined them on the raid.

Jason Cox was sentenced to 14 years and eight months in prison in August 2023, while Craig Cox received 13 years and six months - later reduced to 11 years on appeal.

A third brother, 41-year-old Lee Cox, was not involved in the cocaine raid but was part of the family's other criminal activities and was also ordered to repay £40,000.

He had been jailed for eight years.

A final confiscation hearing will take place on 28 February at Manchester Crown Court for four of their associates - including Caswell.

Luke Clements, specialist prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Proceeds of Crime Division, said: "If we find more assets in the future, the CPS can take them back to court for an increased confiscation order to be made against them."

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