Edinburgh drug chief faces long term as gang smashed

• Mark Richardson was caught when police raided a cocaine factory in Edinburgh. Picture: Lesley Donald

Mark Richardson, caught when police raided a crack cocaine factory in a flat in Ferniehill, Edinburgh, was a violent and aggressive individual who had already served time for drugs offences when still a teenager.

He had created a network of contacts smuggling cocaine into Edinburgh from the east of Scotland, north-west of England and parts of Europe, and was attempting to convert the drug into crack, which is more addictive and harmful.

Richardson and an accomplice were concentrating so hard on producing crack that they did not notice police officers sneaking into the kitchen in December.

Detectives who had been careful closing the net on him and his criminal cohorts had already recovered drugs worth up to 700,000 and have referred assets to the Crown Office for seizure to a value of 5 million. They arrested 66 people, with 14 convicted so far.

Richardson was no stranger to the police. As a teenager, he had been convicted of being involved in supplying cocaine and sentenced to 32 months' detention, while his father was jailed for four and a half years.

Since being released, Richardson has faced other charges apart from the cocaine operation. He had been accused of assaulting the Celtic and Scotland footballer, Scott Brown, and of attending an organised dog fight, but both cases were dropped earlier this week at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

His name also featured during a recent murder trial when Caroline Igoe, 32, a part-time model, was convicted of shooting dead her boyfriend outside their home in the Inch area of the city.

In yesterday's case at the High Court in Edinburgh, Richardson, of Cumnor Crescent, the Inch, admitted being concerned in the supplying of cocaine between 21 April and 9 December last year.

Two other men, Dylan McCallum, 25, of Edinburgh, and Gary Orr, 27, of Cumbernauld, admitted a similar charge but restricted to a single day, 9 December and 27 November respectively.

The advocate-depute, Keith Stewart, told Lord Kinclaven, the judge who had sentenced Richardson and his father in 2007, that the case arose out of a covert exercise by Lothian and Borders Police "into the operations of an organised crime group concerned in the supply of controlled drugs on the south side of Edinburgh".

Mr Stewart said: "Richardson played a significant role which included directing the activities of subordinate members of the group. The police investigation resulted in the recovery of cocaine. The total quantity was 17.010 kilogrammes.

The lowest value is in the region of 320,000, though this figure would be substantially more when subdivided into deal quantities for transaction 'on the street'.

"The investigation culminated on 9 December when officers went to Ferniehill Road to execute a search warrant at about 7:50pm. They entered the flat through the unlocked front door. They were able to see Richardson and McCallum...they were busy working in the kitchen. They were not preparing food. A large pot was boiling on the stove. So absorbed were Richardson and McCallum in their task, that the police officers were able to enter the kitchen without disturbing them. The officers then detained them.

"Scenes of crime officers carried out preliminary tests which confirmed the presence in the kitchen, in various pots and containers, and on the work surfaces, of cocaine. Richardson and McCallum were engaged in preparing cocaine base or crack cocaine. The kitchen was wholly given over to this activity."

Mr Stewart said crack cocaine was commonly used by smoking rocks of the substance in pipes, which produced instantaneous and very intense effects. Alternatively, it could be dissolved into a solution and injected.

He added that during police surveillance, Orr had been seen near Hillend ski centre on the outskirts of Edinburgh and officers found six blocks of cocaine, worth up to 119,000, inside a rucksack in his car. He said he had agreed to deliver the rucksack to Edinburgh from Glasgow to clear drug debts.

Lord Kinclaven remanded all three accused in custody and adjourned sentencing until next month to obtain background reports.

After the court hearing, Morag McLaughlin, Area Procurator- Fiscal for Lothian and Borders, said: "Mark Richardson was a key player in a large Edinburgh-based drugs ring which operated nationally.

"His actions, and the actions of others involved in serious and organised crime, blight the lives of those afflicted by drugs and bring misery and devastation to Scotland's communities.

"The prosecution service will continue to work with the police and other law enforcement agencies to target those at the heart of the drugs trade, to disrupt their activities and to ensure they are brought to justice for their actions.?"

Detective Chief Superintendent Malcolm Graham said: "This investigation was designed to target a high level organised crime group which was involved in drugs, threats and violence, and which was blighting local communities with its actions.

"As a result of this investigation, the group was decimated, and their ability to conduct their criminal activity has been thwarted, making Edinburgh a safer place for everybody to live."

'A callous and vindictive individual with no useful role in society'

EVEN when Mark Richardson was only 19 he was identified by police as a major player in the drugs scene of the capital.

He helped his unemployed father, also Mark, 41, mastermind a cocaine trafficking operation from his home in Edinburgh for more than three months.

The pair were reportedly involved in a violent feud with Jamie Bain, who was imprisoned for 22 years for the Marmion pub killings in 2007. That same year, Richardson snr was sentenced to four and a half years for drugs offences, while his teenage son received 32 months in a young offenders' institution.

On his release Richardson returned to The Inch, in Edinburgh, determined to build a new drugs empire built on foundations of extreme violence and intimidation.

He aligned himself with thugs, amassed a collection of firearms and made contacts in west Scotland, north-west England and Spain, as he smuggled at least 17 kgs of cocaine into the city.

Police would arrest 66 people over the course of their 18-month investigation, all of whom either directly or indirectly worked for Richardson, still only 23.

But for all these signs of ambition and his rapid rise through Edinburgh's criminal ranks, police say Richardson always knew his time was limited. They seized 5 million worth of assets from the gang, but all that belonged to Richardson himself were a few watches, albeit with five-figure price tags.

Detective Chief Superintendent Malcolm Graham, head of CID at Lothian and Borders police, said: "All the evidence is he spent the money as he went, on things like travel and gambling."

Police say he was a callous and vindictive individual, whose victims were the people living on his own doorstep.? They had plenty of opportunities to arrest members of his gang long before they started to close the net on Richardson, but knew that he was the one inflicting the most harm.

DCI Graham said: "We are willing to put substantial effort into pursuing such people because of the impact they have. What he has done in terms of violence, intimidation, and desire to spread drugs as widely as he can, shows he has got a complete disregard for public health and safety. This man has no useful role in society."

GARETH ROSEz