Dad has 'let his wife down again'

Peter and Paul Wilson's fate will be decided in court this afternoon

Two brothers plotted to import and supply millions of pounds of drugs and illegal cigarettes. Peter Wilson used encrypted communications platform EncroChat to smuggle cocaine into the UK from the Netherlands, with his younger brother Paul also becoming embroiled within the scheme.

The former's wife now says her husband has "let her down again" as he faces the prospect of being sent back to prison for a lengthy period. A third man, Andrew Brennan, meanwhile sourced more than £5million of illicit tobacco products, including "very good copies" of Mayfair and Chesterfield cigarettes from Greece and Belgium.

Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday, Monday, that Brennan was involved in the trafficking of £5,203,993 of illegal cigarettes and £187,000 of cocaine. Peter Wilson was meanwhile involved in discussions regarding £1,200,753.82 of tobacco products, £675,000 of cocaine and £7,000 of amphetamine, with Paul Wilson being connected to the supply of £2,721,729.35 of cigarettes, £375,000 of cocaine and 1,000 ecstasy tablets.

Megan Cox, prosecuting, described how the three men sourced their goods "from a variety of countries" before the network was infiltrated by French police in 2020. Brennan and Paul Wilson were shown discussing a lorryload of imported cigarettes on March 28 that year, with 20 pallets of the illegal product having been hidden among a shipment of pasta.

The former went on to "provide an insight" into where he was sourcing the tobacco from on April 7, stating that Mayfair cigarettes he had smuggled in from Greece and Chesterfields from Belgium were "both very good copies". He went on to plot the production of his own counterfeit products by purchasing fake packaging from China and smuggling the required machinery into the country inside a consignment of scrap metal.

Peter Wilson meanwhile spoke of importing cocaine from the Netherlands in his messages, documenting warehouses within the city which had been lined up to store these drugs and previous "dummy runs". His communications also showed that the 46-year-old, Paul Wilson and two other men, known only as "Danny" and "T", had been due to receive a 10kg load of cocaine and planned to split the proceeds evenly between them.

The 46-year-old meanwhile sent a picture of blocks of the class A drug to the handle "Lightning Fork" on April 30, offering them for sale for £38,000 per kilo and labelling them "proper belters" and "f***ing stink unreal". The younger sibling was meanwhile promised a load of "very good pills" of ecstasy from the user "Flying Horse", having arranged for samples to be provided and "reached an agreement with a third party to take 1,000 of the tabs".

Brennan was ultimately detained by police on March 13 last year on Bank Hall Street in Kirkdale, with Peter Wilson being held at his home address on Alderwood Court in Widnes the same day. Paul Wilson was meanwhile arrested days later in HMP Risley in Warrington, where he was a serving prisoner.

Forty-three-year-old Brennan, of Cavendish Mews in Drighlington, West Yorkshire, has one previous conviction for driving while disqualified. His counsel Simon Csoka KC referred to the "condition his wife finds herself in now", adding: "Mr Brennan's circumstances have changed massively. He is the first to accept that the position that his family find themselves in is down to him.

"Nevertheless, the circumstances now are hugely different to the circumstances that existed in 2020. It is the circumstances that his wife and children find themselves in which will be a much greater reckoning for him than any sentence of imprisonment.

"His hope is that he will be released, in time, to support his wife at some point in the future. The circumstances that his family now find themselves in mean it is highly unlikely that he would reoffend in the future.

"He is, for all intents and purposes, a man of previous good character. The greatest punishment to him is being away from his family and not being there to support them at such a critical time."

Peter Wilson's criminal record shows four convictions for four offences, including for conspiracy to supply class A drugs in 1997 and conspiracy to fraudulent evade the prohibition on the importation of drugs in 2003. Ian Whitehurst, defending, told the court: "There are a variety of character references on behalf of this defendant, which show a different side to this defendant. This is a gentleman who was a hard working individual who was employed for many years and let go through no fault of his own, through the economic recession which affected the company.

"He is engaged with his local community and shows a very deep and caring understanding of animals and animal charities. In effect, it is a different side to this defendant which has developed since his last conviction some years ago.

"He has been on remand for just over a year and, in that time, he has engaged in a positive way in the prison estate. His family have attended today, both his wife and his son. They are devoted to this defendant, even though he, to quote his wife, has let her down again. He is to blame. That guilty hangs heavy with this defendant."

Mr Whitehurst also detailed how his client had been diagnosed with an "early form of skin cancer", adding: "About five months, he was seen in Broadgreen Hospital and was told that there had been a reoccurrence of lesions and that he would need surgery to remove them. He has still not had that surgery and does not know when that will take place. If he does not have that surgery, there is a significant risk that the cancer will spread and worsen.

"This is a man who lived a law abiding life for many years after his release. It was simply the economic difficulty he found himself in. He appreciates that it is no excuse at all."

Paul Wilson, of no fixed address, has 11 previous convictions for 19 offences, having received 10 years for conspiracy to supply class A drugs in 1999 and 76 months for conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs in 2009. Jonathan Duffy said on the 43-year-old's behalf: "He has written a letter to your honour, in which he sets out his remorse for getting involved in this and seeks to inform your honour of the family difficulties his conduct has created.

"Your honour has a number of personal references, most notably from his partner and daughter. They set out the pain that this separation has caused them.

"Like his brother, he has two previous similar convictions but from a very long time ago. It is many, many years since Paul Wilson was involved in anything like this. This is really historic offending, committed when he was a much younger man."

Brennan admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and fraudulently evading the prohibition on tobacco. Peter Wilson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to fraudulently evade the prohibition on the importation of cocaine, conspiracy to supply cocaine and amphetamine and fraudulently evading the prohibition on tobacco.

Paul Wilson has admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and ecstasy and fraudulently evading the prohibition on tobacco. Judge Charlotte Crangle will pass sentence this afternoon, Tuesday.