Four jailed after secret high-puity cocaine deal done at Corby Town FC clubhouse
A court heard how Edward ‘Ted’ Shephard was working for convicted ‘major’ coke dealer Alex McConnell when he switched a stash of cocaine between vehicles parked in Princewood Road before taking it to the football club – where he ran the Clubhouse bar.
His pal, builder Darren Lafferty, acted as ‘facilitator’ between McConnell’s gang and another drug outfit working in Wisbech.
Running the Wisbech side of the conspiracy was James Davis, who had a long history of dealing drugs, and his father-in-law Marcus Brown, who had previously been jailed for 16 years for importing cocaine on a light aircraft.
But the men didn’t know that police were watching their every move and after the drugs were handed over at Corby Town FC, undercover officers followed Davis to Cottingham where they stopped his car and he immediately coughed to being a drug dealer.
The quartet appeared in court yesterday (Monday, July 15) to be jailed for their part in the conspiracy. They had initially been due to stand trial in December but pleaded guilty as a jury was sworn in. Following numerous delays, they appeared before His Honour Judge David Herbert KC for sentence.
Northampton Crown Court heard that both Lafferty, 50, and Shephard, 40, were old pals of McConnell, who was jailed for ten years and eight months back in 2021 for running the gang.
The court was told by prosecutor Philip Vollans that, on October 5, 2020, police were carrying out covert surveillance of McConnell and his associates.
“Mr Shephard was seen pulling up in a BMW behind a Citroen van registered to McConnell in the Princewood Road area,” he said.
“There was a brief exchange between the two.”
Shephard, formerly of Babbage Crescent and now of Jay Road, Corby, was seen taking something out of the van and putting it into his own car.
On October 7 messages were exchanged between McConnell, Brown, Lafferty and Shephard setting up a meeting at the Clubhouse for the next day.
