Drugs king hunted down and killed...

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Drugs king Jesse Richards 'was hunted down and murdered by Coventry men'



A SCRAP metal dealer who imported huge quantities of drugs was “vigorously hunted down”, kidnapped and murdered by a gang which included three Coventry men, a court was told.

Traveller Jesse Richards disappeared in 2009 and has not been seen or heard from since then.

His body has never been found although police teams carried out excavations in Druid Close, Stoke, Coventry; Breach Oak Lane, Corley; and in a field next to Chesterton Windmill, near Leamington.

Yesterday, Birmingham Crown Court started hearing evidence against five men – including Kevin Houston, of Longford Road, Longford, Coventry; James Doe, formerly of Broomfield Road, Earlsdon; and Matthew Taylor, of Wyken Way, Wyken; as well as Joseph Doe, of Essex, and David Butler, from Slough – who are all accused of killing him and dumping his body.

Martin Sutherland, of Stonebury Avenue, Eastern Green, Coventry, and James Calcott, of Nuneaton, have been charged with perverting the course of justice.

Houston, 50, Taylor, 28, James Doe, 38, and Joseph Doe, 37, are also charged with possessing an imitation firearm while all seven defendants are charged with obstructing a coroner.

The court heard that Mr Richards, a father of three, was a career criminal who specialised in smuggling large amounts of drugs from abroad.

In 2002 he was jailed for six years for having an organisational role in smuggling two tonnes of cannabis resin into the UK.

Following his disappearance in 2009 police searched a storage unit belonging to him in Sheffield, where they discovered around £1million in cannabis resin, stored in cardboard boxes.

Despite his criminal activities he was in significant debt and one of the men charged with murder, James Doe, is also charged with attempting to blackmail Mr Richards into handing over £50,000 using an imitation firearm.

A firm called ABU Recycling, which Mr Richards was involved with, was also being investigated over an alleged £1.7million VAT fraud.

He had also run a number of different businesses, all of which had gone bust.

Under questioning from prosecution barrister Michael Burrows QC, Det Sgt Mark Peters, of West Mercia Police, said he had “no doubt” that Mr Richards was murdered.

“During this investigation what was clear was that Jesse was very devoted to his children to the extent that there would be contact between them around 10 times a day,” he said.

“He is clearly a devoted father and to me the lack of contact since July 31 2009 is the most significant aspect of the enquiry.

“There have been a number of appeals through the media, the first of which was in the Travellers’ Times on November 18 2009.

“There was no response.”

Det Sgt Peters said that exhaustive enquiries were made to try and track down Mr Richards, including searching a number of known aliases, but nothing was found.

As part of his investigations he and colleagues also explored the possibility that Mr Richards was still being held hostage or that he was unconscious in hospital or had fled the country.

Det Sgt Peters said no evidence could be found to support these theories.

All seven defendants deny the charges.

The trial continues.

[dutchman]

It didn't take a genius to figure out the killing was drug gang related or that it also sparked a wave of retaliation shootings across the city

[dutchman]

Coventry debt collector guilty of killing drug smuggler Jesse Richards



A debt collector from Coventry has been found guilty of being part of the brutal beating that led to the death of a drug smuggler.

A jury at Birmingham Crown Court decided that father of three Matthew Taylor, of Wyken Way, Stoke Heath, took part in the attack that led to the death of traveller Jesse Richards.

Mr Richards had built up a huge £1 million drugs debt before being brutally beaten with an assortment of weapons and thrown in the back of a van.

His body has never been found.

Taylor, aged 29, had denied the charge of manslaughter but after more than 16 hours of deliberation jurors chose to dismiss his claim that he was “the softest and politest person you would ever meet” and that he didn’t take part in the beating.

He will be sentenced next month.

Earlier in the trial, which has lasted two and a half months, Kevin Houston, 50, of Longford Road, Longford, Coventry, and James Doe, formerly of Broomfield Road, Earlsdon, both pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Richards.

David Butler, 26, from Slough, admitted obstructing a coroner and Joseph Doe, 37, of Essex, pleaded guilty to assisting an offender.

Lesser charges against Martin Sutherland, of Stonebury Avenue, Eastern Green, Coventry, and Jonathan Calcott, of Carnation Way, Nuneaton, were thrown out by Judge John Royce because of a lack of evidence.

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Five men jailed over Jesse Richards' death

Five men have been jailed over the death of a father-of-three from Surrey, who police said died because of a drugs debt.

Jesse Richards, 40, was last seen in Worcestershire in July 2009.

He was attacked in the Cleeve Prior area and his body, which has not been found, was taken to Warwickshire to be disposed of, West Mercia Police said.

Two of the men sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court admitted manslaughter and another was convicted of the offence.

'Mark of respect'

Kevin John Huston, 50, of Longford Road, Coventry, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and obstructing a coroner and was jailed for a total of 19 years.

James Doe, 38, of Broomfield Road, Coventry, admitted manslaughter and blackmail and was sentenced to 18-and-a-half years.

Matthew Robert Taylor, 29, from Wyken Way, Coventry, was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 13 years.

Joseph Doe, 37, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to assisting an offender and was jailed for four years.

David Butler, 26, from Drift Way, Colnbrook, Slough, pleaded guilty to obstructing a coroner and was sentenced to four years in prison.

'Constant grief'

Time on remand for the five men was taken into consideration.

A reward of £10,000 is on offer for anyone who can lead police to the location of Mr Richards' body, the West Mercia force said.

He was last seen during a business trip.

In a statement released by police, his mother, Lucy Richards, said: "I have worn black since Jesse was taken and will continue as a mark of respect in my constant state of grief.

"My sadness drives me to search for Jesse on a daily basis."

In the statement, Mr Richards' wife, Amy Richards, said: "We just want Jesse back so we can lay him to rest and say goodbye.

"I'm pleased the men have been convicted of doing wrong but why cannot they now do something right and tell us where Jesse is?"

Det Ch Insp Mark Loader, who led the investigation for West Mercia Police, said it was "a brutal attack on an unarmed, passive, family man".

[Spuffler]

"It didn't take a genius to figure out the killing was drug gang related or that it also sparked a wave of retaliation shootings across the city " - I thought some people on a certain other forum reckoned that Coventry was a safe city, or something like that.....?

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Police dig up land for body of man killed by Coventry gang



Forensics teams are scouring land in Corley as part of the ongoing investigations to find the body of gangland killing victim Jesse Richards.

Warwickshire Police has confirmed to CoventryLive that teams are on a two-day task to look at land around Breach Oak lane as they continue the probe into the 40-year-old’s death.

Jesse Richards, originally from Gloucester, died at Cleeve Prior in Evesham, Worcestershire, on 31 July 2009.

Five men were jailed in 2012 over the death of the 40-year-old father-of-three, who lived in Surrey, but his body was never recovered.

Police suspected his body was dumped somewhere in Warwickshire and parts of Corley have been searched in the past.

But white forensic tents were yesterday (Wednesday, May 23) spotted near to farm land off Breach Oak Lane and police say the action is part of the latest investigations into the case.

“Cordons were, as of May 22, due to be up for two days as part of the Jesse Richards investigation,” said the Warwickshire Police spokesman.

"Forensics officers are on the scene."