The group was involved in the wholesale supply of class A and B drugs on an enormous scale
17:59, 18 Jul 2025Updated 17:59, 18 Jul 2025
The gang has been sentenced to a combined 55 years in jail(Image: Cheshire Police)
Seven EncroChat gang members who supplied class A and B drugs at an ‘industrial’ level have been jailed for more than 55 years. The gang was led by Nathan Simpson, Nathan Davies, and John Lally, who used the handles ‘Gardenfella,’ ‘Chillifella,’ and ‘Silverfella.’
Between them, they made direct contact with upstream suppliers and were involved in the transportation, storage, and distribution of cannabis, cocaine, and amphetamine at a significant scale.
Daniel Roberts, Steven Dodd, Connor Lawton, and Dominic Bourdet were evidenced as having significant roles and were trusted members of the crime group, helping to collect, store, and distribute the OCG’s drugs.
The investigation began when international law enforcement officers, working with the National Crime Agency (NCA), infiltrated a previously encrypted data system known as EncroChat.
Following the breakthrough, officers discovered thousands of messages posted by criminals across the world, each with their own unique username to ensure their anonymity.
An analysis of the data allowed detectives to attribute usernames ‘Gardenfella’, ‘Chillifella’, ‘Silverfella’, ‘Snowyspring’, ‘Stickygreen’ and ‘Greenidol’ to seven of the defendants (Simpson, Davies, Lally, Dodd, Roberts, Bourdet, and Lawton), evidencing their involvement in the conspiracy to supply significant quantities of controlled drugs.
Nathan Simpson(Image: Cheshire Police)
The supply network operated at an industrial level, obtaining multi-kilo amounts of cannabis, cocaine, and amphetamine through several sources, predominantly from the Manchester, Liverpool, and Birmingham areas.
Once obtained, the drugs were stored, prepared for onwards sale, and later distributed to middle-market suppliers, who in turn supplied the drugs to others.
Simpson and Davies shared control of viable firearms and planned drive-by shootings of rival OCG members. Simpson also conspired with others with the intention of hiring them to carry out punishment shootings of rival OCG members following a dispute.
Lally was responsible for coordinating the supply and distribution of drugs through subordinates within the OCG. He was involved in the collection and movement of substantial quantities of money and cocaine, reporting directly to Simpson.
Lally was also involved in the dispute with a rival organised crime group and conspired with Simpson and Daniel Roberts to commit grievous bodily harm whereby he planned to set fire to home addresses, vehicles, and business premises of rival gang members.
From the evidence gathered, experts were able to assess the group’s involvement in the supply of 115.283kg of cannabis, 10.982kg of cocaine, and 63.44kg of amphetamine.
This resulted in warrants being conducted by officers at multiple addresses across Warrington on Wednesday, November 27 2024, and resulted in the arrest of Simpson, Davies, Lally, Dodd, Bourdet, and Roberts.
Lawton was later arrested on Friday, December 6 2024 at Manchester Airport. During the warrants, officers seized quantities of drugs, cash, mobile phones, and luxury items such as Rolex watches and other designer goods.
All seven men appeared in Liverpool Crown Court today, July 18, having pleaded guilty to all charges. They were sentenced to a combined 55 years and five months in prison.
Detective chief inspector Nick Henderson, of the serious and organised crime unit said: “Today’s sentencing brings to a close what has been an extremely lengthy and complex investigation, and I welcome the sentences that have been handed to all seven men.
“Davies, Simpson, and Lally were all key players in the large-scale commercial drugs business, supplying substantial amounts of cannabis, cocaine, and amphetamine in Warrington and the wider Northwest Region.
“They entrusted their subordinates to assist in the onwards sale of the drugs and even conspired to start a war with a rival gang, putting the lives of innocent members of the public at risk while they hid behind the proceeds of their crimes.
“They used EncroChat, believing that they could operate under the radar, using an encrypted and sophisticated device that would keep their communication secretive in order to avoid detection.
“However, after EncroChat was infiltrated, officers were able to comb through all the messages and reveal their illegal activities, meaning that they are now facing a combined total of 55 years and 5 months behind bars.
“This shows that no matter what you think you are doing to cover your tracks, we are one step ahead. We will do everything we can to make sure that each member of these OCGs pays for the misery that they bring to communities across Cheshire.”
Anyone with information about drug activity in their community is urged to contact Cheshire Police via https://www.cheshire.police.uk/tua/tell-us-about/soh/seen-or-heard/