Thelwall gun runner Robert Brazendale handed long jail term

Robert Brazendale operated as a ‘quartermaster’ in a conspiracy concerning the trade of arms and ammunition ‘known for their capacity to be unsparingly destructive’.

The 34-year-old electrician-by-trade was an ‘essential cog in a machine which ran guns to other criminals’ – weapons including assault rifles and submachine guns, as well as military-grade rounds.

After the illicit enterprise was rumbled by law enforcement agencies who cracked their encrypted messaging system, Brazendale flew to Spain, where he was detained on a European arrest warrant.

He appeared before Manchester Crown Square Crown Court today, Friday, to be sentenced after pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to transfer prohibited weapons.

Also sentenced for their roles in the conspiracy were Umair Zaheer, Bilal Khan and Hitesh Patel.

Tim Storrie, prosecuting, explained how on April 14, 2020, Zaheer sent to Khan a list via encrypted criminal messaging system EncroChat, offering for sale weapons and ammunition including an Uzi sub machine gun, Skorpion sub machine gun and an AK47 assault rifle.

“This was trade in weaponry designed for the purpose of inflicting the maximum level of harm to other people,” the barrister said.

“The illegal arms trade requires deadly secrecy. Consequently, those who store and run the guns and take payment are those whom the organised crime group can utterly trust.

“It was just such a function that Brazendale fulfilled. He was the keeper of the guns, money and of sensitive information concerning the activities of Zaheer and others involved in serious organised crime.

“His role was that of quartermaster to the operation. As such, he was an essential cog in the machine that traded in these weapons.”

READ> Watch as gun runner is arrested in Spain

On April 15, Brazendale carried out three separate transactions trading in firearms, the first of which was the supply of an AK47 on the car park of Tesco Express on Knutsford Road in Grappenhall for £10,500.

A courier was deployed to pick up the weapon at around 4.30pm, who was told to be alert for Brazendale’s red van.

The firearm – an East German AK47 (Kalashnikov) automatic rifle along with Russian bullets with soft points, designed to expand on impact – was later recovered by police at an address in Astley.

The second transaction concerning Brazendale involved a meeting with Khan and Patel, in a deal brokered by Zaheer involving the delivery of a Skorpion machine pistol, Uzi sub machine gun used by the Israeli military, Taurus Brasil revolver and ammunition.

Zaheer provided Khan with the post code for the Today’s Extra store on Thelwall New Road, where Brazendale would attend to deliver the firearms in exchange for £37,000

Khan made practical arrangements to secure the firearms and Patel was sent from Chester to London to collect a silver Toyota Yaris with a ‘hide’ to transport the firearms.

The AK47 would not fit in the hide, so Khan volunteered to collect that firearm himself.

On April 15, Patel drove the car from London to Thelwall, where he was met by Brazendale on a bicycle and handed the weapons in exchange for the cash.

Again, the firearms were recovered by police following a warrant in Brent in London, hidden in a special cache created by a false wall within a bedroom cupboard.

The third transaction carried out by Brazendale also occurred on April 15 concerning the AK47 that could not fit in the Yaris, which was to be housed at a vacant office at Firecrest Court, Centre Park.

Umair Zaheer, Bilal Khan and Hitesh Patel

Inside, the office, pictures were taken of Khan and Zaheer holding the AK47, from which the National Crime Agency was able to identify the location and defendants.

On April 21, officers executed a search warrant at the Firecrest office and recovered the AK47 and ammunition in a rucksack hidden in a roof void.

Some of this ammunition was soft-nosed, ‘which had the very specific purpose of expanding on impact with its target, designed to cause catastrophic levels of injury’.

Forensic analysis of a glove found had DNA ‘one billion times more likely to have originated from Khan than from an unknown unrelated person’.

The same odds could be said of DNA recovered from the handle of the rucksack, but this time relating to Brazendale.

After hearing about the raid, Khan messaged Zaheer saying ‘bro they found it’ and ‘makes zero sense but NCA have that AK’.

“They then engaged in an exchange of messages concerning how the authorities had known to search the premises, the potential evidence against them, the prison sentences that could follow and strategies to frustrate the investigation,” Mr Storrie said.

“The pair openly consider deploying strategies to obtain the least possible sentence.”

The next day, Khan was arrested, while Patel was arrested on June 15 and Zaheer on April 23 on the East Lancs Road after fleeing on foot from police.

Brazendale was arrested on April 27 while riding his bike in Grappenhall. On him was an Encro-phone and a ‘tick list’ with names and figures including Zaheer’s EncroChat handle.

READ MORE: Gun runner buried firearms in his back garden and fled to the Costa del Sol

His home address of Selworthy Drive was searched and guns and ammunition was found buried in the garden. A search of his self-storage lock-up at Latchford Locks recovered £17,000.

“In the course of events Brazendale was released under investigation. It is plain that he knew how things would unfold because he took the opportunity to flee the  jurisdiction and travelled to Spain,” said Mr Storrie.

However, he was detained in Estepona on the Costa del Sol in October and was extradited back to the UK on December 17.

“Brazendale occupied a role of real significance in the context of organised criminal activity – in essence, that of the quartermaster,” Mr Storrie said.

“The offence itself was the subject of highly sophisticated planning and execution; there was an expectation of financial advantage and there were steps taken to evade detection.

“This was a large scale, highly-sophisticated enterprise dealing in weapons of limitless ferocity over a large geographical area with other professional criminals.”

Oliver Cook, defending Brazendale, said that his client had not ‘took flight to evade the inevitable’ as stated by the prosecution.

He said: “He did not break the law by going to Spain. There was no lawful impediment in leaving the country. He was offered a job in Spain and took it.

“He was residing in Spain under his own name and travelled on his own passport. If it was an attempt to evade justice, it was not a very good one.”

Mr Cook also said that Brazendale was ‘kept out of the loop of the true purpose of the firearms’, while highlighting another side to the defendant.

“He is a family man from a good family. When he puts the offending behind him, he can continue being. He has progressed well in custody.”

The 'fearseome arsenal' of weaponry and ammunition seized by police

Before sentencing Brazendale, Justice Timothy Kerr said “This was a fearsome arsenal of guns, receiving a sum of upwards of £47,000.

“You played a leading role in group activities as a key facilitator of stock. You were an instrument of the physical delivery of weaponry and there was an expectation of significant financial advantage.”

He continued: “I have read letters of support from your former employer and three close family members who say you are a skilled and competent worker and a dedicated family man.”

But he added: “You left the country knowing you were facing the reckoning of the law. You were hoping to avoid reckoning.”

Brazendale was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison, of which he will serve half in custody and the remainder out on license.

Meanwhile, while Khan, 33 and of Didsbury, was caged for 10 years and eight months and Patel, 21 and of no fixed abode, was locked up for seven years and five months.

Both were sentenced on a charge of conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to endanger life, while Patel was also sentenced for possession with intent to supply cannabis

Zaheer, 34 and of no fixed abode, was jailed for 25 years on two charges of conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to endanger life and single charges of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and conspiracy to a supply class B drugs.

Applications for serious crime prevention orders for Brazendale, Zaheer and Khan were granted for five years following their release from prison.

Justice Kerr also approved orders for the destruction of the weaponry, ammunition and EncroChat devices and the forfeiture of the £17,000 found in Brazendale’s lock-up.