Gang boss who fled to Spain ‘tired of crime’ | Manchester News

A British organised crime boss who organised shootings and traded assault rifles from his flat in Spain is “tired of living a life of crime”, a court has heard.

Jamie Rothwell, who was found by police “hiding out” at an apartment in Barcelona, pleaded guilty at Manchester Crown Court to a string of drugs and firearms offences.

His barrister, Chris Henley, KC, said the 38-year-old had vowed to turn his life around after living in “isolation, loneliness and fear”.

Rothwell, from Salford in Greater Manchester, is due to be sentenced on Thursday along with nine other men.

He was arrested after being identified as the man behind the “livelong” handle on the supposedly uncrackable EncroChat phone network.

French police hacked into EncroChat’s servers between 30 March 2020 and 24 May 2020.

It gave detectives real-time access to messages between thousands of organised criminals, who were oblivious to the fact they had been compromised.

The intercepted messages were shared with British police forces.

Greater Manchester Police said the messages exposed Rothwell’s “command over a sprawling criminal enterprise and his involvement in the trafficking of high-powered weapons, including AK-47 rifles”.

Prosecutor Jaime Hamilton, KC, outlined some of the messages which gave “an insight into the violence that is the hallmark and by-product of his business”.

In one of them, Rothwell said: “When you have fire in your heart you don’t stop… you get addicted, you lose everyone, you turn cold, no emotions.”

In another, Rothwell bragged of how he was “sending constant” consignments of Class A and B drugs and guns, before adding: “I sent 300 straps [firearms] home, I got RPG, M16, AKs, Glock Machines.”

Mr Hamilton said Rothwell also discussed how he had fallen out with other criminals.

This was said to have included them trying to kill him and how this meant he had a “six-month war” with one, during which he went on the rampage.

The court heard how in April 2020, Cheshire man Liam Byrne was told by police that his life was under threat.

On 22 April 2020, Rothwell and another man discussed Rothwell’s wish to find out the address of both Mr Byrne and his father, Liam Byrne Sr.

Rothwell was sent these details along with photographs of the men and images of their addresses from a satellite mapping application.

In one message, Rothwell stated: “I’m gonna do all them soon”, before discussing the use of a specific van as a getaway vehicle.

Two days later, that van was caught on CCTV parking up near one of the houses in Warrington.

David Barnes, the stepfather of Mr Byrne, was shot in the leg on the doorstep of his home by a gunman posing as a pizza delivery driver.

Following the infiltration of EncroChat, Rothwell was tracked down to an apartment in Barcelona in 2020 before being extradited back to the UK.

He had fled to the Catalan city after police in the UK had handed him a “threat to life” notice.

Rothwell pleaded guilty to conspiracies to possess firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life, conspiracies to supply cocaine and ketamine, and two counts of conspiracy to inflict grievous bodily harm with intent.

In mitigation, Mr Henley said Rothwell had spent five years thinking about his life since his arrest and now felt feelings of “remorse and regret”, including for “breaking the hearts” of his family.

The defence barrister added: “He is tired of the life he has lived.

“He has expressed that all he has really achieved is isolation, loneliness, fear and a life away from his family.”

Mr Henley said he wanted to put “aside the bravado, the hype, and glamorisation around serious offences, and communicate some hard truths to people about what life really looks like”.

He added that Rothwell would “like to share with others – perhaps younger people who perhaps stand on the edge of some sort of offending precipice”.

Mr Henley asked the judge to “acknowledge the steps [Rothwell] had already taken” when passing sentence.

“He is now a much older and wiser man than he was when he was 33 when these offences took place,” he said.

The court also heard how Rothwell had been characterised as “quite talented as a young adolescent with a degree of intelligenc”.

However Mr Henley said Rothwell’s family had been unable to prevent him from being seduced by the “superficial” criminal lifestyle.

“Once that momentum is set and one is immersed in that kind of environment, it is very hard to divert from that sort of path,” he said.

“It led to serious danger and him being on the receiving end of very serious violence and threats in the past.”

The court heard how Rothwell spent most of his time inside his apartment in Barcelona after fleeing the UK.

Rothwell, who was flanked by four security guards in the dock, will appear via video link on Thursday for sentencing.