MUM AND AUNT RAN DRUG FARM FOR JAILED GANGSTERS
SEVEN LOCKED UP OVER PLOT
DRUGS bosses recruited their mum and their aunt to run their £700,000 cannabis farm conspiracy on the ground while they led it from their prison cells, a court heard.
Ryan Ratcliffe, 28, and Ben Harding, 27, from Salford, were locked up in Northern Ireland after being involved in a £2m plot to smuggle cannabis and cocaine from Manchester into the country.
Even while they served their three year sentences at HMP Magilligan in Londonderry, the duo were leading another drugs syndicate which involved cannabis being grown at farms in properties across Greater Manchester. Manchester Crown Court heard that they turned to their relatives to help them continue their operation while in prison.
Ratcliffe recruited his mother, Marie Ratcliffe, 46, while Harding involved his aunt, Amanda McCurdy, 45. Ryan Ratcliffe’s uncle, Stephen Ratcliffe, 49, and their friends Joshua Williams, 28, and Ben Pickles, 27, also became involved in the conspiracy, which ran from March 2016 to December last year.
Ryan Ratcliffe and Ben Harding were arrested as they walked out of prison after serving their sentences.
GMP had gained records of phone calls which gave them enough evidence to fly them back to the UK to face justice. Now seven conspirators have been jailed for a total of almost 40 years.
Sentencing, Judge Timothy Smith described the operation as a ‘cynical and calculated criminal enterprise to peddle drugs.’ He said Ryan Ratcliffe and Harding retained ‘absent but active control’ as co-leaders of the conspiracy while in prison.
Ryan Ratcliffe, of Acer Grove, Salford, was jailed for seven years and seven months, while Harding, of Bennett Drive, Salford, received seven years and two months’ prison.
They both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cannabis and conspiracy to produce cannabis.
Marie Ratcliffe, of Acer Grove, Salford, and Amanda McCurdy, of New Devonshire Square, Salford, controlled the finances, and were responsible for providing rental properties to house the cannabis farms and funding equipment. The judge said they acted out of ‘mis- guided or misplaced family loyalty.’
Marie Ratcliffe was jailed for four years and one month and McCurdy received four years and 17 weeks’ prison. They both admitted charges of conspiracy to supply cannabis and conspiracy to produce it.
Joshua Williams, of Milan Street, Salford, had a ‘key role’ from the outset, the court heard, and was responsible for finding properties and keeping the operations running.
He was jailed for five years and eight months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cannabis, conspiracy to produce cannabis, possession of cannabis with intent to supply and possession of amphetamine with intent to supply.
Ben Pickles, of Argyle Street, Heywood, and Stephen Ratcliffe, of St Brelades Drive, Salford, acted as producers and sold the drugs on.
Pickles was jailed for five years and four months, while Stephen Ratcliffe was sentenced to four years and 10 months’ prison. Both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cannabis and conspiracy to produce it.
After the hearing, GMP’s Det Insp Andy Buckthorpe said: “This was very much a family enterprise and the individuals involved were making vast profits.”