Former Hucknall man facing jail for drugs and firearm offences as part of violent drugs gang

Kiefer Smith, 28, formerly of Dallman Close, was one of six gang members on trial at Nottingham Crown Court and all were found guilty of the same charges.

The six men had already previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply class A and class B drugs.

The gang’s leader, Akeem Chand, 27, formerly of Melbourne Road, Aspley, was jailed for life and will serve a minimum of 20 years before he becomes eligible for parole

Orlando Escoffery, 26, formerly of Fenton Road, Basford, was jailed for 23 years, Quarnell Simpson, 24, formerly of Nuthall Road, Aspley, was jailed for 20 years and Devante Neufville, 24, of no fixed address, was jailed for 20 years

Smith and Alexsandro Woolery, 27, formerly of Portland Road, Carlton, will be sentenced at a later date for the same offences

Zak Charles, 19, of Bulwell, was found guilty of the conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to endanger life and conspiracy to possess ammunition without a certificate – offences he committed when he was still a child – and was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in a young offenders' institution.

Another man, Ravan Mather-Simpson, 25, formerly of Mansfield Road, Sherwood, Nottingham, pleaded guilty before the trial to conspiracy to supply class A and class B drugs and was sentenced to nine years and was also jailed for a further 16 months for separate incident of affray.

Another woman, Sarah Aplin, 27, of Wyton Close, Bestwood, had previously admitted to a charge of allowing a premises to used for the supply of controlled drug and was jailed for two years and three months.

The gang sold vast quantities of cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin on the streets of Nottinghamshire.

The members flaunted their ill-gotten wealth on designer clothes and jewellery, and the production of increasingly lavish music videos.

At one point, in March 2019, several members of the gang – who had almost no legitimate income between them – flew to Mexico’s Caribbean coast where they stayed in a lavishly appointed private villa and even hired a luxury motor yacht.

Both were used as locations ​for a professionally-produced music video recorded on the trip. In ​it the gang bragged about dealing drugs, posed with their jewellery and boasted about how they needed a ‘Money Counter’ to count their profits.

The gang came to the attention of Nottinghamshire Police after a series of linked shootings in late 2018 and the first half of 2019.

They were finally brought to justice after an extensive covert police operation, during which a listening device planted in a car caught the gang openly discussing the sale of drugs and the shooting of rivals.

The first shooting happened on December 13, 2018 on Minver Crescent in Aspley when a shot was fired at a car suspected to contain rival gang members.

Chand was ultimately arrested for this offence.

Things really began to unravel for the gang on May 9, 2019 when Chand and Simpson were caught on camera committing a shooting on Brindley Road in Bilborough.

A few days later, on May 12, 2019, shots were fired at the empty vehicle of a gang member in an apparent revenge attack in Meregill Close in Nottingham.

Detectives at Nottinghamshire Police were convinced that the shootings were linked and that Chand and his associates were involved.

As a result, a covert listening device was deployed to monitor conversations in Chand’s car.

Detectives later retrieved audio of Chand and his associates conducting multiple drug deals and even discussing the shooting of a rival.

Another shooting took place on May 22, 2019 on Hazel Hill Crescent in Bestwood – again targeting a rival gang – when two men on a motorcycle fired four shots at a building, shattering two windows and leaving bullets lodged in a living room wall.

The cycle of tit-for-tat shootings was concluded on May 27, 2019 in Melbourne Road, Aspley, when a shotgun was fired through the front window of Chand’s then home address.

Now armed with compelling evidence the Detectives moved in and arrested the gang.

Subsequent property searches revealed significant quantities of drugs, cash and guns, one of which was forensically linked to the Hazel Hill Crescent shooting.

Although they were not able to prove conclusively who pulled the trigger in every offence and successfully argued instead that the men had all conspired together to store and use the weapons in a way that posed a clear and obvious risk to life.

Detective Chief Inspector Richard Bull, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “These men were extremely dangerous.

"Led by Chand they had built up an extremely profitable drugs empire and were very clearly willing to use potentially lethal violence to protect it from people they saw as rivals.

“Ultimately it was this ready use of violence that led to this gang’s undoing.

"Shooting incidents are both incredibly rare and extremely serious, so when they do happen we dedicate whatever resources we deem necessary to finding the people responsible and taking their weapons off the streets.

“One of the first questions we ask in investigations like this is of course ‘why?’

"In this case that question led us directly to Chand and his associates, who will each spend a very considerable time in jail as a result of their actions.

"I hope these sentences send a very clear warning to other criminals about the potential consequences of acquiring and using illegal firearms.

"We will find you and when we do we will lock you up for a very long time.”