Large quantities of heroin were transported to Norfolk in a major operation organised by a convicted killer from his cell, a court has heard.
Prosecutors say Liam Duffy – serving 20 years behind bars for his role in a gangland killing – used mobile phones from inside prison to organise the trafficking of class A drugs from Liverpool to Norfolk.
The conspiracy came to light after heroin with an estimated street value of up to £200,000 was found in a van in Norwich, the city's crown court was told.
Duffy, 35, and three other men have admitted conspiracy to supply class A drugs, although Duffy has denied being the organiser.
However, while prosecutor William Carter accepted Duffy did not have any physical contact with the drugs, he said: 'He [Duffy] is the individual who is putting the two ends, Liverpool and Norwich, together. He was the common link. The Crown says he was organising matters.'
A sentencing hearing for the men started at Norwich Crown Court yesterday.
Three members of the gang appeared at Norwich Crown Court after police smashed the conspiracy which was organised by Duffy from a prison, in Rochdale, where he is serving a 20-year sentence for his part in the revenge killing of 19-year-old gangland leader Liam Smith.
The court heard the conspiracy came to light after officers from the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) stopped a van in Swansea Road, Norwich and recovered two kilos of heroin with an estimated street value of up to £200,000.
Following the find, in August 2014, Tony Rimmer and Carl Fairfield, both from Liverpool, and Rocky Gamble, from Norwich, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Their arrests prompted an investigation by ERSOU led to which would uncover mobile phone evidence which revealed that Rimmer and Fairfield were being involved in bringing heroin to Norfolk in an operation which the prosecution say was organised by Duffy, using banned mobile phones, while in prison.
Mr Carter, prosecuting, said: 'The Crown say he was organising matters.' Duffy, 35, who appeared via video link from prison, has admitted conspiracy to supply class A drugs, but denies he played an organising role.
Rimmer, 30, formerly of Pethrack Road, Liverpool, and Fairfield, 39, formerly of Totnes Road, Liverpool, both admitted conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Mr Carter said that Rimmer and Fairfield were at the Liverpool end of the operation and they played 'significant roles' by delivering the drugs to Norfolk and then picking up the cash for payment.
He said that Fairfield would use hire vehicles to drive to Norfolk to make the deliveries.
He said at the final raid in August 2014 at an address which was being used in Avenue Road in Norwich, police recovered £39,825 in cash.
The court heard that Andrew Murphy, 44, of Ten Bell Court, Norwich, was sentenced to a total of six-and-a-half years at an earlier hearing in 2014 after pleading guilty to possession of heroin with intent to supply and handling stolen goods.
Nichola Webster, 43, of Ten Bell Court, Norwich, was jailed for three years in 2014 after admitting possessing heroin with intent to supply.
Another defendant Rocky Gamble of Avenue Road, Norwich, who has also admitted conspiracy to supply Class A, will be sentenced at a later date.
At the time of the arrests, police believed the operation brought in total about £4.6m worth of heroin to the streets of Norwich.
Duffy was convicted of manslaughter in 2007 following a trial of the 2006 killing of Liam Smith, a prominent member of the Norris Green-based Strand gang.
Mr Smith was shot dead outside Altcourse prison in August 2006 as part of an ongoing feud between the Strand gang and rival Croxteth Crew.
A year after Mr Smith's death 11-year-old Rhys Jones was shot dead in a pub car park in Croxteth Park as he wandered into the line of fire between the warring gangs as the tit-for-tat skirmishes continued.
The sentencing hearing has been adjourned and there will also be a further hearing to decide the Duffy's basis of plea.
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