Liverpool prodigy became drug ring kingpin
Jamie Cassidy, who played alongside Michael Owen as a schoolboy, jailed for 13 years for cocaine plot
THE “bravado” of a former Liverpool and England football prodigy who “bragged” about his life of drug-dealing and organised crime helped police to arrest him, a judge said as he jailed him.
Jamie Cassidy, 46 – who played alongside Michael Owen and Jamie Carragher as a schoolboy – was one of the country’s most promising footballers and was predicted to have a glittering future.
But after suffering a knee and leg injury, he was let go by Liverpool at the age of 21 and subsequently turned to organised crime alongside his older brother Jonathan and Nasar Ahmed, an associate. Yesterday, he was jailed for 13 years and three months.
In 2020, Cassidy was arrested as part of a police operation that uncovered a plot to bring 780lbs of cocaine from South America into the UK.
He had the nickname Nuclear Dog and held a “managerial role” in the crime network, according to prosecutors, overseeing the distribution of drugs to dealers around the country and acting as a bookkeeper.
His conviction and imprisonment sealed an extraordinary fall from grace for a footballer who, at the age of 15, was England schoolboys’ leading goalscorer.
Cassidy, from Knowsley, Merseyside, was signed by Liverpool when he was nine and played in the club’s trophy-winning youth side in the 1990s. He later won a place at the FA school of excellence at Lilleshall, where he played alongside many of the game’s future superstars.
But after breaking into the first team, the attacking midfielder’s career was cut short by a string of injuries that robbed him of his pace. Liverpool let him go in 1999 and he signed for Cambridge United, where he played a few games before dropping into non-league football.
Prosecutors said he then conspired with his brother, a former builder, and other criminal associates to flood the north of England with cocaine.
Manchester Crown Court heard that the gang used the encrypted Encrochat messaging platform to communicate and were working on plans to import drugs worth £28 million when they were caught.
Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, said Cassidy held a managerial role with the network, for which he was paid a salary. He said the gang was smashed in 2020 when Encrochat was accessed by police.
Cassidy was arrested at his home in Knowsley in November 2020, about a month after his brother was detained after flying into Britain from Dubai.
In mitigation, Paul Greaney KC, his barrister, said that although Cassidy had received a wage for his services he did not take a share of the huge profits generated by the drug deals. “He was acting under a significant degree of control with only a limited degree of autonomy,” he told the court.
Mr Greaney said Cassidy “was a footballer of exceptional talent and promise”, adding: “He was signed by Liverpool at the age of nine. With Jamie Carragher, he was awarded one of 16 places at the FA Centre of Excellence.
“At the age of 15, he was the leading scorer for the England under-16 team in the 1993/94 season with six goals, including three in the European under16 championships. In the following season, he was the top scorer for the England under 16-team.
“He was a part of the Liverpool team which won the FA Youth Cup, alongside Jamie Carragher and Michael Owen. He then broke into the first team, making a number of appearances, but injuries wrecked his career.”
Cassidy was found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine, and conspiracy to conceal, transfer and disguise criminal proceeds. His brother Jonathan and Ahmed were both jailed for 21 years and nine months for conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to conceal, transfer and disguise criminal proceeds.
Detective Constable Marc Walby, of the Greater Manchester Police Serious Organised Crime Group, said: “The individuals jailed today were from the upper echelons of organised criminals that operate in Greater Manchester and, thanks to the interception of Encrochat, we were able to see their conversations and activity play out in a way we’ve never been able to before.
“Jonathan Cassidy and his colleagues got far too comfortable with their encrypted phones and began bragging about their personal lives, but this just confirmed what we already knew about them. Ironically, it was this bravado and these messages which have landed them in jail for a long time.
“This has been a long-running and complex case, and I would like to thank the NCA and CPS for their pursuit in defending the legal challenges associated with this case. Without, these convictions may not have been possible.
“By dismantling this operation, we’ve put an end to the harm they were bringing to communities in Greater Manchester and further afield. The volume of drugs these men were involved in should not be underestimated, and their contribution to serious harm and violence, which is inextricably linked to the drugs trade, is undeniable.” Wayne Johns, the National Crime Agency’s Operation Venetic senior investigating officer, said: “The Cassidy brothers and Ahmed pleaded guilty after years of tenaciously challenging the legality of the case against them.
“The NCA and Crown Prosecution Service worked with GMP to robustly defend the challenge, and we now see the trio where they belong. “Operation Venetic has been the UK’S deepest ever penetration of organised crime groups, which cause so much damage to our society. So far, almost 1,500 offenders have been convicted and there are many more suspects in the legal and judicial systems.
“More than 3,300 arrests have been made and more than 2,000 suspects charged in the UK. Over 10,600 years of sentences have been given to offenders.”