Drugs gang jailed after being ‘blight’ on the community

ORGANISED criminals who ran a drugs empire from a housing estate have been jailed after being intercepted by French authorities.

Ringleader Lee Docherty, 37, his brother-in-law Ian Millar, 39, Brendan Gillan, 32, his father Daniel Gillan, 60, and Christopher McKellar, 44, traded in drugs worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Between March and December 2020, the gang used a “heavily fortified” building on the Larkfield housing estate in Greenock, Inverclyde, to control the sale and supply of cocaine, heroin, cannabis and etizolam.

Prosecutors said the gang wreaked “disorder and disruption” in the local community.

The gang was caught when French authorities intercepted encrypted messages on the EncroChat platform, and all of them pleaded guilty at the High Court in Glasgow in January.

The court heard one message referred to Valium pills with a street of value of more than £700,000.

A police raid in December 2020 yielded a drugs haul worth £150,000, as well as £12,775 in cash, at the Oxford Road property referred to as “the trap”, or “the shop”, the court was told.

Docherty, described in court as the gang’s principal member, was jailed for eight years when the gang was sentenced yesterday.

Millar and Daniel Gillan were both handed six-year sentences, while Brendan Gillan was jailed for six years and four months.

McKellar, who was responsible for moving the drugs, was sentenced to five years and four months.

Serious Crime Prevention Orders were also served on Docherty, Millar and Brendan Gillan, and all the gang members will face proceeds of crime confiscation hearings in future.

Sineidin Corrins, deputy procurator fiscal for specialist casework at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said: “For years, the criminal activities of these individuals have impacted the everyday lives of many ordinary people in the Larkfield area of Greenock through their significant involvement in serious organised crime.

“They caused widespread disorder and disruption through the supply of drugs and their influence on young people.”

Detective Chief Inspector Robert Bowie, senior investigating officer for the case, said: “These five men were a blight on the community of Greenock and the wider Inverclyde area.”