‘Gangster granny' leader of family crime gang jailed for dealing drugs worth £80m

The Guardian

3 hours ago

A family-run organised crime group, orchestrated by a 65-year-old described by police as a 'gangster granny', has been sentenced for dealing drugs with a street value of £80m across the UK.
Deborah Mason, who had the moniker 'Queen Bee', and seven other members of the gang, were sentenced to a total of 106.5 years at Woolwich crown court in London on Friday for their involvement in supplying nearly a tonne of cocaine over seven months.
A group of couriers collected packages of imported cocaine and drove them across London as well as Bradford, Leicester, Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff, between April and November 2023, the court heard.
The drugs had an estimated wholesale value of between £23m and £35m and a street value of £80m.
The ringleader spent her profits on designer goods and was looking to travel to Turkey to have cosmetic surgery, while young mothers who were part of the gang took their young children to pick-ups.
Mason, who directed other members of the gang and was in contact with an upstream supplier called Bugsy, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Judge Philip Shorrock told Mason: 'You were effectively the site foreman working under the direction of a site manager.
'You recruited members of your own family – as a mother you should have been setting an example for your children and not corrupting them.'
The judge noted that several of the women have young children but said their involvement in the drug network only 'makes it easier for unscrupulous' dealers to seek to recruit mothers.
Earlier, prosecutor Charlotte Hole said: 'Everyone involved had an expectation of significant financial advantage, at least £1,000 per trip, and it is one of the most significant parts of the motivation of the conspiracy.
'They all had an awareness of the scale of the operation.'
Hole added: 'She (Mason) recruited both her family members – her sister and her children – as well as partners and friends of her children, to a network of at least 10 individuals.'
Mason did not use pressure or coercion to woo her family into the gang as they were 'motivated by financial benefit'.
The court also heard she was in receipt of in excess of £50,000 a year in benefit income during the conspiracy period, while acting as ringleader and spending lavishly on luxuries.
When Mason was on holiday in Dubai, her daughter Roseanne Mason, who made seven trips delivering about 166kg of cocaine, stepped into the directing role, the court heard.
The prosecution said Roseanne Mason collected cash for her mother and also 'provided childcare so that others could work'.
George Payne, defending Deborah Mason, claimed his client was not the top director of the gang's actions. In his mitigation argument, he said: 'It is precisely because she does not look like someone who is involved in drug dealing that she was chosen to be part of the plot.'
He added: 'I submit that all of these individuals are expendable, without experience and without a lot of knowledge.'
Mother of two Demi Bright made a single trip in August 2023 which involved 60kg of cocaine. She took her children with her on the two-day trip, which involved an overnight stay in a hotel.
Lillie Bright was involved in 20 trips involving 195kg of cocaine. Her partner Chloe Hodgkin, 23, of Abbots Walk, Wye, Kent, is awaiting the birth of her baby and is to be sentenced at a date to be set.
Reggie Bright's 12 trips as part of the gang delivered at least 90kg and there were times he collected wages for the group. He usually took trips with his partner, Demi Kendall, 31, telling her 'not to get the hump because we need the money', the court heard.
Tina Golding made four trips and delivered at least 75kg of cocaine, collecting at least £10,000 in wages.
Anita Slaughter took part in a single trip, which amounted to 55kg across four drops, in October 2023.
Roseanne Mason, 29, of Canonbury, north London, and Demi Bright, 30, of Ashford, Kent, were each sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment.
Lillie Bright, 26, of Ashford, Kent, was sentenced to 13 years, and Demi Kendall, 31, of Staplehurst, Kent, was sentenced to 13 years and six months' imprisonment.
Reggie Bright, 24, of Staplehurst, Kent, was sentenced to 15 years, and Tina Golding, 66, of Ashford, Kent, was jailed for 10 years.
Slaughter, 44, of Ashford, Kent, was sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment.
Acting on intelligence, Metropolitan police officers used a range of investigative techniques including extensive call data and conventional surveillance to track Deborah Mason and her couriers' movements. Most of the gang were arrested in May 2024.
Met DC Jack Kraushaar, who led the investigation, said: 'This was a sophisticated operation which was extremely profitable for those involved.
'Following months of work by the Met police to relentlessly pursue these perpetrators, we were able to arrest and eventually convict them, preventing more drugs flooding streets across the UK which leads to violence, antisocial behaviour and misery for communities.'