The five women were involved in a massive drugs operation
18:44, 08 Sep 2025Updated 13:56, 11 Sep 2025
Left to right: Kerry Rutledge, Ashley Stephens, Sharon Waring, Carmina Clynch(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Five women who propped up a nefarious drugs empire running county lines out of Liverpool were rumbled when their lynchpin was toppled. Nicola Blood, Ashley Stephens, Carmina Clynch, Kerry Rutledge, and Sharon Waring were all wrapped up in the operation, largely commandeered by drugs boss Terence Clarke.
Blood, 54, Stephens, 32, and Clynch, 31, and Waring, 54, allowed their homes to be used as “safehouses” for the storage and production of drugs, while Rutledge, 46, laundered the operation’s ill-gotten gains, accepting multiple payments into her bank account.
They were caught during a police investigation into Stephens’ former partner Terence Clarke, who ran county lines supply chains across England and Wales using the Encrochat handle “SacredTruck”. The encrypted network was hacked by law enforcement in 2020, but Clarke continued to deal in drugs until he was arrested in February 2023.
At Liverpool crown court today, September 8, prosecutor Nicola Daley said: “Terence Clarke was a well-organised and resourceful businessman in the drugs business. When he gave evidence in the course of his trial, he indicated he had been involved in the supply of drugs for more than 20 years. He described himself as the best person in Liverpool at turning cocaine into crack cocaine.”
The court heard Nicola Blood, formerly of Dalemeadow Road in Knotty Ash, had allowed Clarke to use her property as a hub for his illegal activities for more than three years, from 2020 until 2023. She also allowed another drugs boss, Robert Seville, to use her property in this way, Ms Daley said.
When police raided her home on January 18 2023, they found 458g of heroin, 1.2g of crack cocaine, and 495g of ketamine. They also found a mobile phone linked to the “Johnny” graft line number, used to supply heroin and crack cocaine in Newton-le-Willows.
Nicola Blood, 54, formerly of Dalemeadow Road in Knotty Ash(Image: Merseyside Police)
The following day, January 19 2023, police descended on Ashley Stephens’ property on Abingdon Grove, Walton.
Ms Daley said: “Ashley Stephens was the controller of another safehouse that was being used by Terence Clarke at that stage. Police found 3.4kg of diamorphine – heroin – in half-kilo packages. Ashley Stephens’ DNA and fingerprints were found on these bags, together with Terence Clarke’s fingerprints.
“It would appear from messages recovered from a phone seized from Terence Clarke that Clarke had identified Stephens as somebody he could trust. He had, at some point, been in a relationship with her, and she thereafter allowed items to be stored in her home address.”
Further investigations led police to Carmina Clynch’s flat on Orchard Ave in Childwall after associates of Clarke were seen visiting the address. A raid on May 16 2023 found 868g of cocaine, 154g of crack cocaine, 253g of heroin, and 61g of cannabis resin, along with scales, tick lists, mobile phones and other drugs paraphernalia.
Meanwhile Kerry Rutledge, of Rydal Street, Everton, laundered money for her criminal friends by moving their ill-gotten gains through her bank account. Between March 2022 and June 2023, she handled a total of £24,975.
Sharon Waring, of York Street, Walton, was caught by chance in March 2023, when police investigating in the Rice Lane area were directed to her address. Inside, they found cannabis, cannabis resin, packages, scales, a burner phone and a notebook.
The five women appeared at Liverpool crown court today, September 8, for sentence. Nicola Blood had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine), but was found guilty after a trial.
Ashley Stephens pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs. Carmina Clynch pleaded guilty to permitting her premises to be used for the supply of class A and class B drugs. Kerry Rutledge pleaded guilty to money laundering, and Sharon Waring pleaded guilty to permitting her premises to be used for the supply of class B drugs.
Ashley Stephens, left, and Kerry Rutledge, right, outside Liverpool Crown Court(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Bernice Campbell, defending Blood, said: “You saw the vulnerability of Ms Blood and the difficulties of refusing somebody like Terence Clarke. What did she do? Did she turn a blind eye? The jury believe so. At the end of the day she was found guilty after trial. She was clearly in a lesser role.”
Jason Smith, defending Stephens, said: “I have been provided with a short letter from the defendant which indicates her remorse. People speak very highly of a 32-year-old woman who two or three years ago had problems, problems which began when she was 15 which involved the use of cocaine, alcohol, and partying. The lifestyle has affected her ever since.
“Since her arrest she has taken tremendous steps to distance herself from these influences and the one individual who has played a significant role in why she is before the court, about to receive a term of imprisonment, as she accepts and understands.
“It’s many months since she committed the offence and in that period she has taken steps to rehabilitate herself. She is drug-free. She has removed herself from influences that were clearly detrimental to her.”
Damien Nolan, defending Clynch, said: “To deal with Clynch in an appropriate way is to follow the recommendations in the pre-sentence report and mental health assessment.”
He said she was the mum of a six-year-old boy with “significant issues with schooling”.
Carmina Clynch outside Liverpool Crown Court(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Peter Killen, defending Rutledge, said: “I invite the court to take into her account her age and lack of previous convictions and the passage of time since these matters.”
He said Rutledge was a mum of three adult children, adding: “The children live with their mum, which is a rented property and she is the tenant. A custodial sentence would have a substantial effect on them as they would lose their home.”
Lloyd Morgan, defending Waring, said: “She has had a difficult life and is a long-standing drug user, a heroin addiction which she has been rehabilitated from. She still using, as she frankly told the probation service, other controlled drugs, but she’s attending, and has been attending for a time, the RIVER (Responsive, Inspirational, Visible, Empowering and Recovery-Oriented) Services.
“Her parents are in ill health and she lives close by to provide them with assistance.”
Sharon Waring outside court
The defendants were handed the following sentences:
- Nicola Blood, 54, formerly of Dalemeadow Road in Knotty Ash, was sentenced to six years in prison
- Ashley Stephens, 32, of Abingdon Grove, Walton, was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison
- Carmina Clynch, 31, of Childwall, was sentenced to 18 months suspended for two years, 20 rehabilitation days, and a 12 month mental health treatment requirement
- Kerry Rutledge, 46, of Rydal Street, Everton was sentenced to 18 months suspended for two years, 10 rehabilitation days and 250 hours of unpaid work
- Sharon Waring, 54, of York Street, Walton, was sentenced to an 18 month community order, 20 rehabilitation days, and a nine month drug rehabilitation requirement