Scott Calder led a drugs gang who
tracked rivals' cars using surveillance technology before raiding
cannabis farms and making off with the drugs. He was jailed for three
and a half years this week
A
bodybuilder nicknamed 'The Demon' has been jailed for leading a drugs
gang which used tracker bugs to follow cannabis growers and raid their
factories.
Scott
Calder, 23, and his accomplices planted surveillance devices on the
cars of their rivals so they could follow then to their hideouts and
steal cannabis.
Police
swooped on the gang after Calder and his mother were shot and wounded
in a gangland hit as he was picking her up from bingo.
Fearing
gang warfare was about to erupt, officers stopped a car driven by one
of Calder's accomplices and found evidence that nine trackers had been
used during the course of an underworld 'taxing' operation against local
dealers.
During
the various searches of the suspects' homes, officers seized tracking
devices and software, a meat cleaver, a sword, machetes, drugs
paraphernalia and mobile phones.
Calder, from Moston, Manchester, admitted conspiracy to burgle and was
jailed for three and a half years at the city's crown court this week.
The
thug was said to be notorious in his neighbourhood after calling
himself 'The Demon' on Facebook and posting warning messages.
One
read: 'Stab me in the back, I'll blast ur spine.' Others said: 'In this
game there's only one don' and 'Even if I died young who cares.'
Last
January, Calder and his 56-year old mum, Marie, were caught in a hail
of bullets after being ambushed by two gunmen as she got into his car
outside the Gala Bingo Hall at a shopping centre in Harpurhey,
Manchester.
They managed to get themselves to hospital with gunshot wounds to the arms but miraculously neither were seriously injured.
Calder was known as 'The Demon' by locals and boasted online that he did not care if he died young
He also posted pictures of himself enjoying expensive bottles of champagne and getting into a sports car
Police
investigating the shooting mounted a major operation after discovering
Calder and his gang were involved in a criminal plot to track known drug
dealers to cannabis farms and then steal the plants and growing
equipment.
It
emerged the gang would carry out surveillance outside a shop which sold
equipment used for growing cannabis and planted GPS trackers on
visitor's cars, so they could follow them without being spotted.
The
gang also acted on tip-offs from other criminals who knew the
whereabouts of cannabis farms being grown by Vietnamese gangsters. One
victim who found a tracker hidden on his vehicle was ordered to return
it or 'his head would be blown off.'
In
one raid, the gang were chased off by a cannabis farmer who set his
guard dog on them. Two days later they raided another grower and escaped
with a duvet cover full of cannabis plants.
In
April, Calder, who had by then recovered from his gunshot wounds, was
arrested after police bugged his car before stopping him and finding a
combat hunting knife.
Ryan Hayes
(left) was jailed for two years and eight months and Paul Andrews
(right) got three years and nine months for their parts in the
conspiracy
Dale Hall
(left) was given four years in prison and Jack Biernat (right) received a
three-year sentence for their parts in the conspiracy
The
following month, officers seized a silver Skoda used by the gang. When
it was searched, police recovered a laptop which was forensically
examined and led police to the tracking company. The gang were then
rounded up one-by-one.
Dale
Hall, 29, Jack Biernat, 27, both of Chadderton, near Oldham and Paul
Andrews, 25, and Ryan Hayes, 26, both of Moston, all pleaded guilty to
conspiracy to burgle.
Hall was given four years, Biernat three years, Andrews three years and nine months and Hayes two years and eight months.
Sentencing the five men, Judge Patrick Field QC said it was a 'sophisticated and well-planned scheme'.
Speaking
after the case, Det Con Wes Knights of Greater Manchester Police said:
'These men were involved in a criminal plot to "tax" cannabis farms - in
other words, steal the plants from known dealers and farmers and reap
the rewards for themselves.
Calder - known locally as 'The Demon' - posted scores of pictures of himself online in a trademark pose
He showed off by posting pictures of himself riding a quad bike around Moston on his Facebook page
As well as boasting there was 'only one Don', he posted a photo of this expensive watch and jewellery
Detective
Knights added: 'The indiscriminate nature of their tactics left
innocent members of the public at risk, which is something we as a
police service cannot tolerate.
'The theft of cannabis plants, known among the criminal fraternity as "taxing", is a very dangerous one.
'Not
only does it continue to propagate the market for illegal drugs to be
sold and people to suffer serious harm as a result of consuming those
drugs, but it creates rivalries and bad blood between gangs that leads
to other criminality. All too often, innocent people are caught up in
this.
'That
is why taking this gang off the streets is a fantastic result not just
for us but for people who are fed-up with cannabis dealers operating in
their area.
'We
have effectively cut out a major supply route for cannabis getting onto
our streets and also taken a dangerous group of criminals with access
to weapons and tracking devices out of the game.'
Police said Calder's gang's plan of 'taxing' local dealers would have created bad blood between crime groups
The investigation into his activities
was sparked when Calder and his mother were shot outside Gala Bingo in
Harpurhey, Manchester and police feared a gang war was about to break
out
Calder admitted conspiracy to burgle after police moved in on his gang to prevent further carnage
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