Drug gang leader jailed for 12 years
ALEADING member of a feared gang which sold drugs across Sefton has been locked up, the Visiter can now reveal.
Feared gangster James Shiels sat laughing ih the dock as he was jailed for nearly 12 years at Liverpool Crown Court.
Along with his younger brother, Kyle, he was at the forefront of the notorious Fernhill Gang which peddled drugs between Southport and Bootle.
They were sentenced for their crimes last November, after an extensive police operation into drug dealing and antisocial behaviour.
But the details of James Shiels’s sentencing can only be revealed now following the collapse of a separate prosecution.
The 28-year-old labelled his punishment “a joke” when Judge Anil Murray handed out the 11 year and 10 month term for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
Together with Kyle, who was jailed for 16 years for drugs offences, he led the Fernhill Gang in a campaign of fear, intimidation and drug dealing that stretched north to Southport from Netherton.
The heroin and cocaine racket was described by Judge Murray as “an organised and slick operation conducted with ruthless efficiency”.
While James was sentenced on the same day as Kyle, media were banned from reporting on his involvement for fear of prejudicing a separate prosecution.
That drugs case has since collapsed, meaning the Visiter can now report on James’s offences.
He and his brother oversaw a network of “graft” phones that operated 24/7 to meet the needs of their customers.
As calls flowed in and their distribution network grew larger the brothers, both from Netherton, enlisted drivers to deliver the drugs for them.
Mark Ainsworth, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that they were “feared by the community” during the 2015 operation, which centred on the Hereford Drive estate - nicknamed “Dodge” by some.
He said: “Night and day, they and their team of helpers worked tirelessly round the clock dealing Class A drugs locally on the Dodge Estate, from where they came, and throughout South Sefton and north to Southport.
“They used many graft phones, which were the call centre for the business.
“The phones were active 24/7, with batch messages being sent out to their customer database, sometimes hundreds at a time.
“The orders would then flow in from mobiles, land lines and telephone kiosks.”
As police closed in on the gang, members began to use intimidatory tactics, such as filming officers on mobile phones and abusing them in the street.
The crooks drove around in private and hired cars, sometimes waving knives and carrying imitation firearms, which led to police chases before they were stopped and searched.
Gang drivers would try to evade officers long enough to give the dealers time to internally secrete their stash.
Residents were said to be terrified by the Fernhill “gang culture”, involving violence against rivals, and reluctant to speak to police.
Mr Ainsworth said drug dealer Kevin Roberts armed himself with a sawn-off shotgun and a self-loading pistol, with shotgun cartridges and Luger rounds, after being badly injured in one attack.
Roberts, of Brook Hey Drive, Kirkby, was one of 15 people, including the Shiels brothers, jailed for a total of almost 95 years when the group was sentenced in November.
The removal of the gang from the streets of Netherton has made the area a safer place, police believe.
At the time of the sentencing the area commander for Sefton, Ch Supt Paul White, said: “Protecting our communities is a priority for Merseyside police and those sentenced today were having a real negative impact on the residents of the Hereford Drive estate and other areas in Sefton.”
He added: “There is no doubt in my mind that when the residents, who were affected by the criminal activities of these individuals, see the photographs of those sentenced will breathe a sigh of relief.”
Anyone with information about drugs crime can contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.