Nine people are being sentenced for their role in the £1.8m operation
18:50, 11 Dec 2025Updated 20:09, 11 Dec 2025
Lisa Prescott(Image: Manchester Evening News)
A mum who helped her gangster partner carry on his cocaine dealing business from prison was busted when police raided a north Manchester flat and brought down a £1.8m drugs ring.
Officers, who had been covertly watching members of the operation for almost six months, swooped on the property in Crumpsall in October last year after mum-of-three Lisa Prescott was seen meeting with a gang member. In a series of raids on the gang’s premises, officers seized 15 kilos of cocaine, six kilos of amphetamine, two kilos of heroin, and 7,000 ecstasy tablets. They also discovered £75,000 in cash and 224 rounds of ‘viable ammunition.’
One of those they arrested was Prescott, 40, who was then the partner of James Close. Close, who was recently handed a 36-year sentence after being found guilty of drug and gun crimes, was a close associate of gangster Jamie Rothwell.
James Close(Image: GMP)
Prescott and Close, labelled a ‘violent and dangerous criminal’ by a judge, had been partners ‘for many years’ and shared a home together in Leigh, Manchester Crown Court today (Thursday, December 11) heard.
As he awaited trial in connection with the case he was eventually jailed for, Close was remanded at HMP Forest Bank in Salford. During this time, he relied upon Prescott to ‘assist in the continuation of his drug business whilst in prison’, said Andy Scott, prosecuting. The court was told Prescott was a ‘facilitator’ who ‘worked ‘under the complicit direction’ of Close, who was a ‘close associate’ of Thomas Hunt.
Nine people involved in the drugs racket
Hunt ‘sat at the head’ of the drugs racket – for whom nine people are now being sentenced for their involvement – and was its operational leader, the court was told. He fled before he could be arrested and remains wanted by the police, Mr Scott told the court on the first day of a two-day sentencing hearing.
Other associates were apprehended, however. Dylan Robinson, 33, worked ‘closely alongside’ Hunt and ‘was hands-on in the group’s day-to-day operations’, the court was told. The pair were ‘assisted’ by Hunt’s brother, Anthony Hunt, 40. To move the drugs, they relied upon trusted couriers, two of whom were 63-year-old Graham Sykes and 58-year-old Stanley Ainsley, the court was told.
Details of the drugs ring were heard on the first day of a two-day sentencing hearing at Manchester Crown Court(Image: MEN Media)
Anthony Hunt’s partner, Rachel Blackburn Stanley, 35, also helped him by driving him ‘to, and from, the group’s drug-storage locations’ and to ‘conduct two exchanges with Stanley Ainsley’, Mr Scott said.
Thomas Lockwood, 60, was their ‘product tester’. Robert Earnshaw, 29, is the partner of Thomas Hunt’s daughter and ‘ran his own localised drug dealership’ linked to the conspiracy, Mr Scott said, and Aiden Hopkins, 31, who lived in Gosport, was a ‘trusted courier’ for a crime group based in and around the Hampshire town and who were customers of the Manchester ring.
The meeting that led to the empire crumbling as drugs worth £1.8m seized
Prosecutors previously said it had been decided it was not in the public interest to bring another case against Close who was, in a separate case, linked to the dealing of 28 kilos of cocaine, and moved just under £500,000 of drugs money.
And the involvement of Close’s then-partner Prescott in the conspiracy ‘only came to light’, Mr Scott said, when she was observed meeting Anthony Hunt at a flat in Crumpsall on October 4. During a subsequent search of the flat, officers found 11kg of ‘high-purity’ cocaine, with an estimated wholesale value of between £308,000 and £352,000. Anthony Hunt’s DNA was found on a disposable black glove, with Prescott’s found on another.
Police also searched Prescott’s Mercedes, and her home. They seized £2,000 in cash from her car, with a further £4,500 located in the electric meter cupboard. They also seized five mobile phones.
Blackburn-Stanley, who driven Anthony Hunt to the Crumpsall flat in an Audi, was arrested near her home in Moston later that day. In the car was found a ‘shopping list of items used in drug production.’
A number of further raids were carried out, and arrests made, four days later, on October 8, which Mr Scott said had ‘always been planned to be strike day for the investigation team.’
Robinson was arrested at his home in Middleton where 41.6kg of cocaine, just shy of half a kilo of diamorphine, and other drugs including cannabis gummies and ketamine were found. Robinson said ‘they belong to me.’ More drugs, and the ammunition, were discovered at two storage units in Heywood, which the court was told Robinson was ‘responsible for.’ The estimated street value of all the drugs seized was £1.8 million.
On the second day of her trial in September, Prescott changed her plea and admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine. In a basis of plea she said that due to ‘pressure against her and her family’ she agreed to collect and drop a ‘small quantity’ of drugs.
She had ‘no idea’ about the 11kg seized at the Crumpsall flat, adding she acted ‘underneath the direction of others’ and had ‘no influence over others.’ Gulam Ahmed, defending her, said that ‘immediate custody is not the only way the court can punish her’ and asked for a sentence that ‘allows her to keep her liberty.’ The mum-of-three is no longer in a relationship with Close and is the ‘sole carer of her children’ including her young son, he added.
Rebecca Filletti, representing Blackburn-Stanley, also asked that she be allowed to ‘remain in the community.’ She said she had a number of ‘vulnerabilities’ and had showed ‘understanding, acceptance and remorse.’ Oliver Jarvis, representing Robinson, said that before his offending he was a ‘dedicated and helpful father.’
Mark Fireman, appearing on behalf of Graham Sykes, said his client had lost his job ‘due to a heart condition’ and that ‘he and his wife had a mortgage to pay.’ He said he was looking for ‘legitimate work’ when he became involved and that he had ‘not been in trouble and not been in custody for a long time.’
Andrew Hill, defending Stanely Ainsley, said his client had become involved as he was himself a ‘drug user of class A.’ Brendan O’Leary, representing Anthony Hunt, said he had not ‘sought to challenge significant amounts of the evidence’ but that he ‘maintains he was operating under the direction of others.’
Chris Whitehouse, representing Aiden Hopkins, said at the time he was using ‘great amounts’ of cocaine and had run up a debt of £2,000 he couldn’t repay. “He doesn’t use that as a justification or excuse,” he added.
Lockwood’s barrister will address the court on Friday, when Judge Peter Horgan is also due to pass sentence on all nine defendants.
Full list of defendants and their offences
- Stanley Ainsley, 58, of Birch Street, Gorton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, possession with intent to supply diamorphine and amphetamine
- Rachel Blackburn-Stanley, 35, of Rudston Avenue, Moston, admitted participating in the activities of an organised crime group
- Robert Earnshaw, 29, of Eastwood Road, New Moston, admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and producing cannabis
- Aiden Hopkins, 31, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine
- Anthony Hunt, 40, of Rudston Avenue, Moston, admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and possession with intent to supply diamorphine.
- Thomas Lockwood, 60, of Kentford Drive, Collyhurst, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine.
- Lisa Prescott, 40, of Henry Street, Leigh, admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine
- Dylan Robinson, 33, of Fallows Avenue, Middleton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, possession with intent to supply MDMA and diamorphine and possession of ammunition without a firearms certificate.
- Graham Sykes, 63, of Moston Lane, admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and producing cannabis