Jake Moorcroft(Image: Merseyside Police)An EncroChat dealer received a prison sentence for drug dealing offences in Belgium but “didn’t know about it”. Jake Moorcroft told police “it took you five years lad” when police belatedly caught up with him over his activities under the pseudonym “Invincible Hound” on the encrypted communications platform during 2020.
His activities on the network saw him work hand in hand with fellow service user “Big D***” within the business of supplying heroin, cocaine and cannabis. It came after his earlier arrest at a music festival on the continent, although he was apparently completely unaware until now that he had faced court proceedings abroad in relation to this matter and subsequently handed an 18-month jail term.
Liverpool Crown Court heard this week that messages exchanged via the InvincibleHound handle during the spring of 2020 showed that Moorcroft, of St Julien Drive in Everton, already had a “well established business” in class A and B drugs. The now 25-year-old had a total of 54 contacts stored on his Encro phone and was found to have been in contact with 33 of these over a three-month period.
Stella Hayden, prosecuting, described how he was shown to have “worked closely” with the user BigD***, with the two having “operated principally by sourcing kilograms or half kilograms and selling them in smaller denominations”. Their contact also included discussions on the production of crack cocaine and cutting their product with adulterants in order to achieve greater profits.
Overall, Moorcroft was evidence to have been involved in the supply of 5.5kg of cocaine, 2.25kg of heroin and 6kg of cannabis. He was eventually arrested at his home address on February 6 this year, at which stage he told PCs: “It took you five years lad.”
An extendable baton was seized by Merseyside Police following a search of the house, with £15,600 in cash thereafter being discovered in an “associated property”. Moorcroft has a total of four previous convictions for seven offences, including receiving 18 months in prison and a €12,000 fine from a court in Antwerp in 2018 for being concerned in the supply of drugs.
He was then convicted of possession of drugs back in Belgium in 2019 respectively and was handed six months in a young offenders’ institute suspended for 18 months in this jurisdiction later the same year for possession of cannabis with intent to supply. Anthony Barraclough, defending, told the court: “He comes from a loving family. The fact that they love him and his behaviour perhaps makes it worse.
“Belgium has a strange approach. You can be tried in Belgium without even being there. He did not know about that. He did not serve a prison sentence. He did not know about it until these antecedents came up.
“It was a summer music festival. He was there. I do not know the material which was before the Belgian court. We do not know the facts. As far as he was concerned, he was arrested because there were drugs around. He thought that he had been arrested for something to do with money. These are my instructions.
“A man being involved at a low level is suddenly organising his own business and having all of these contacts at the age of 20. It might not be so simple and straight forward as the prosecution say.
“There is room for the possibility that he did not just come into this kind of world. We have a young man here who did not suddenly become an expert, got himself an Encro phone, was the sole user of it and had all of these contacts without having surrounding influence.
“If he is a young man who is susceptible to influence, that is something your honour can take into account. He was the user of the phone and he did all of those transactions, but he did not suddenly come upon this phone and invent this business. He has thrown away his life, or the best years of it, for a small amount of money.”
Moorcroft admitted conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine and cannabis, possession of an offensive weapon in a private place and breaching a suspended sentence order. Appearing in the dock wearing a blue Nike t-shirt and sporting mid length brown hair on Friday, he was jailed for eight years and eight months.
One woman in the public gallery was seen in tears and blew him a kiss as he was led down to the cells. Sentencing, Judge Katherine Pierpoint said: “The trade that you were involved in brings destruction and misery to many. Drugs wreck lives.
“You only need to spend a few days in these courts to see the devastating impact that drugs have in this city. You were motivated by greed and had a complete disregard for the wellbeing of others and the impact that your dealing would have on the fabric of society.
“You, like so many, thought that you were protected by the use of such a phone, but that has proved to be your downfall. There was no hiding place, and the contents of those messages and notes revealed what you were up to.
“I have read with care a number of references on your behalf. You are clearly well thought of by those in your community. Your grandmother speaks of the important role that you have played in her life. You are obviously well thought of by your family, and your incarceration will clearly have a devastating impact on them.
“There is clearly another side to you. It is sad to see a young man who clearly does have the ability to do good for others before these courts facing a lengthy custodial sentence. The fact is that the only person to blame is you.”