EXCLUSIVE: Encrochat brothers who sacked lawyers and snubbed trial get 25 years each for coke supply

TWO Encrochat defendants, who sacked their defence lawyers and failed to attend their trial, have been jailed for 25 years each.

Jamie, 50, (above right) and Cavan Hanna, 52, (above left) both from Dartford, in Kent, were today (April 4 2022) given the huge sentences at Woolwich Crown Court after being found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A cocaine and money laundering last week.

The court heard the pair were convicted of a similar class A drug supply conspiracy in 2009, when they were each jailed for 14 years.

They were still on licence following their release when they were arrested as part of the first wave of Encochat arrests in June 2020.

The court heard the pair instructed couriers via Encrochat phones to deliver multi-kilo consignments of cocaine to customers across the country and collect the cash between April and June 2020 when French and Dutch police were intercepting the encrypted communication system's messages.

Over a 90-day period the conspiracy involved a total of 89kgs of cocaine worth more than £3.3m, the court heard.

The brothers (Cavan left, Jamie right in an earlier police mugshot above) were able to move cocaine worth more than £3 million around the country in the few weeks of the lockdown, despite the restrictions on movement.

Jamie, whose nickname is "Silver Fox" and Cavan paid their couriers percentage commissions from huge cash consignments they picked up from buyers after dropping off multi kilos of cocaine from vehicles fitted with special concealment hides, Woolwich Crown Court heard.

The prosecution centred on a 76-day period from March to June 2020 and involved the sale and distribution of a total of 89kgs of cocaine worth more than £3.3m.

Details emerged as the pair were each jailed for 25 years on Monday when they refused to turn up to court after being convicted.

When Cavan Hanna was arrested at his Dartford home on June 14 2020, police found inside a walk-in wardrobe a Luminor Rattapante 1950 watch, a Louis Vuitton Cup watch, two Rolex watches, 1.2g of cocaine and cash in envelopes.

Prosecuting, James Thacker, said it was believed from calculations of amounts drugs sold for and the commissions paid, the couriers got 0.75 per cent of the money they collected.

One courier, Dalligan Dalligan, 55, from Crayford, was paid £2,800 for £371,000 he collected for 10kgs of drugs.

Police searching his address found £239,000 in cash, digital scales, a counter surveillance probe, a

money counter, a heat-sealing machine and a .22 calibre air rifle he was prohibited from owning.

The gang was busted during the country's biggest ever operation against organised crime after French and Dutch police hacked into the supposedly encrypted Encrochat mobile phone communication system.

It was being used by 50,000 people across the globe, including around 9,000 in the UK.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) was given access to historic messages sent by criminal gangs and they were able to monitor ongoing communications in real time.

Cavan Hanna used the handles "wigglycalm" and "luckywaffle" on the encrypted devices and Jamie Hanna used the handle "muteswamp".

Investigators were able to track the movements of these phones during the investigation and they were attributed to the pair by personal information sent in messages and photographs as they trust the Encrochat encryption.

Mr Thacker said: "Cavan and Jamie Hanna were the principals at the centre of the organised criminal group. They directed the other co-conspirators and organised the supply of commercial quantities of high purity cocaine throughout the conspiracy period.

"They had substantial links to, and influence on others within the conspiracy.

"They expected and enjoyed substantial financial gain. Both had encrypted phones as well as conventional phones and organised the distribution of Encro phones to others within the conspiracy."

Data showed on March 25 2020, just two days after Prime Minister Boris Johnson locked down the country, Cavan Hanna's encrypted phone travelled from the vicinity of his address to an area near Winchester and Andover.

On May 14 2020, still under lockdown, his phone went from his address to the West Midlands.

Jamie Hanna was linked to the "muteswamp" phone after he sent a picture of the view from his front door to someone in Marbella and discussed his licence conditions with them.

He told the contact he could not wait to moved out to Spain when his licence conditions were up in two years.

He is now looking at a much longer wait before soaking up the rays.

Sentencing them, Judge Jonathan Mann QC said: "This conspiracy involved the distribution of substantially large amounts of cocaine and laundering the proceeds.

"They (both Hannas) did not appear once and are not in court today.

"They sacked their counsel, presumably for tactical reasons, and no one has appeared for them at sentence.

"But, there is little or no mitigation as they are determined class A dealers, who committed these offences while on licence."

Dalligan and another courier, Anthony Dominy, 64, from Bexley Heath were also convicted of their involvement in class A drug supply and jailed for 11.5 years and ten years respectively after they pleaded guilty.

Thomas Mercer, 54, from, who pleaded guilty to money laundering just ahead of the trial received four and a half years.

He used his legitimate business as a cover for the commission payments made from the Hannas to Dalligan and Dominy.

Judge Mann added: "Cavan and Jamie Hanna on an almost daily basis obtained and distributed KGs of cocaine and guided Daniel Dalligan and Anthony Dominey to collect payments and for Thomas Mercer to pay their wages. Both sought substantial financial gain."

Two couriers, Anthony Dominy, 64, from Little Heath Road, Bexley Heath and Daniel Dalligan, 55, from Station Road, Crayford, were also convicted of their involvement in class A drug supply and jailed for 11.5 years and ten years respectively after they pleased guilty as the trial got underway.

Thomas Mercer, 54, from, who pleaded guilty to money laundering just ahead of the trial received four and a half years.

He used his legitimate business as a cover for payments made from the Hannas to Dalligan and Dominy.

Judge Mann added: "Cavan and Jamie Hanna on an almost daily basis obtain and distributed KGs of cocaine and guided Daniel Dalligan and Anthony Dominey to collect payments and for Thomas Mercer to pay their wages. Both sought substantial financial gain."