'Untouchables' are undone by courage of undercover agents

James Carlin

Ringleader James Carlin and his cohorts - a tight-knit group of friends known to each other since childhood - even made the Jock's Lodge pub their "gang hut" by terrifying its staff. Detectives became aware of their luxury holidays and lavish lifestyles as they targeted the group under Operation Domino, and resolved to take them down.

But it would require a pair of undercover officers to spend 14 months posing as fellow criminals to befriend Carlin's gang, earn their trust, and gather wiretapped and filmed evidence to snare them.

Police chiefs today hailed the bravery of the officers who spent so much time in the bar-room gang's lair where Carlin himself was shot and stabbed by two rivals in March.

Yesterday, Carlin, 24, became the last member of his nine-strong gang to be convicted at the High Court in Edinburgh after a jury found him guilty of drug dealing charges.

Today, the Evening News can reveal that:

Carlin and his associates would blatantly snort lines of cocaine off the bar at the Jock's Lodge.

A fight between Carlin and a criminal from Drylaw outside a city nightclub sparked a violent feud between rival gangs which saw five shootings in Edinburgh around summer 2008.

Ex-boxer Carlin was banned from several nightspots and was notorious for intimidating bouncers at clubs and lapdancing bars.

Undercover officers compared Carlin's "professional" organisation to more experienced gangs they targeted in Glasgow and London.

Detective Superintendent David Bullen, who led the operation against the gang, said: "This has been the most challenging and most in-depth operation we've had against an organised crime group. We were dealing with a really tight group who had grown up together in the same area since they were children.

"When you have a group so closely associated, there can be difficulties in breaking into it and that required ingenuity on our part."

Detectives deployed a pair of undercover officers - who took on the roles of "Kev" and "Tommy" - to pretend to be English gangsters hiding out in the Willowbrae area of the Capital.

The officers hung out at the Jock's Lodge and Scotties Bar in Northfield Broadway, gradually making the gang's acquaintance before earning their confidence by selling them cheap flat screen TVs, trainers and games consoles.

On one occasion, the officers took Carlin to their rented home and offered him a bullet proof vest for sale. The officers turned the conversation to drugs and captured Carlin on hidden microphones offering to supply a kilo of cocaine for 19,000.

Det Supt Bullen added: "The officers involved were taking significant risk because this was a group with a propensity for wanton violence, and we had intelligence they had access to firearms.

"This group thought they were untouchable and acted with impunity.

"We knew about the feuds they had been involved in with criminals from the Drylaw area, and that had led to violence between these groups."

The feud was sparked after a fight between Carlin, of Hay Gardens in Niddrie, and another man outside the City nightclub in Market Street in 2007.

The following year, in the space of a few weeks, five "tit-for-tat" shootings were linked to the escalating conflict, including one at The Gauntlet pub in Broomhouse in September 2008. Drug dealer Sean McGovern was later jailed for 17 years for carrying out the gun attack at the bar.

Recently jailed drug trafficker Mark Richardson's Inch-based gang was linked by police to some of the firearms incidents.

Det Supt Bullen said: "We knew that Carlin had close links to other crime groups, particularly that of Mark Richardson where there was a clear association.

"Carlin's group were young men with access to substantial quantities of cocaine and other drugs which were sold on in large amounts, deriving significant profits.

"James Carlin was the controlling influence who would direct his underlings. He wouldn't touch the supplies himself. He had others to do that for him.

"The undercover officers were experienced individuals and they believe that Carlin and his group were young men punching above their weight. The officers compared their professionalism, violence, and the extent of criminality with older criminals operating in the west coast of Scotland and London."

Carlin spent lavishly with his crime profits, with a trip to Las Vegas with $6000 spending money, a 900 "football break" in Manchester, a 990 Louis Vuitton handbag for his girlfriend, and 3000 for laser eye surgery.

Carlin admitted in court that he abused cocaine, buying "two or three grammes" for when he was "out drinking or watching the football".

One regular at the Jock's Lodge told the Evening News that the bar was like "the Wild West" when Carlin and his associates were holding court.

He said: "They acted like they owned the place and, basically, they did. Carlin and others would even cut out lines of coke on top of the bar and do them with everybody watching."

But Carlin himself was to fall victim to violence in his "gang hut" when he was attacked by Dean Scott, 27, and David Coutts, 21, as he watched a karaoke session at the pub.

A court heard that Carlin had told another man of plans to "hack" Coutts. Scott shot Carlin in the leg with a 9mm pistol and while the two men fought, Coutts slashed him on the buttock with a knife.

Scott and Coutts pleaded guilty to assault to severe injury and are due to be sentenced on Tuesday.

In total, drugs with a value of around 140,000 were recovered during Operation Domino, and a further 61,000 worth of drugs were recovered during subsequent searches.

Det Supt Bullen added: "We've had a number of very positive results against those involved at the high levels of the drug trade, but we'll continue to keep the pressure on those who seek to profit from selling drugs. We're not complacent."

CONNECTIONS TO OTHER DEALERS AND MURDER VICTIM

JAMES Carlin was a close friend and criminal associate of Mark Richardson, one of the Capital's biggest drug dealers, who was jailed for ten years in August.

Richardson and Carlin were also friends with murder victim Martyn Barclay, who was shot last year by girlfriend, Caroline Igoe.

At her trial, Igoe told the High Court in Edinburgh that she had phoned Carlin and Richardson in the hours before Mr Barclay was shot.

Igoe, right, told the court that she called both men as she tried to find out where her boyfriend was.

Richardson, the leader of an Inch-based gang bringing millions of pounds' worth of cocaine into Edinburgh, was jailed after being caught with 700,000 of cocaine at a Ferniehill flat.

His gang was placed under a police surveillance operation lasting 18 months, which has so far brought 66 arrests and resulted in seizures worth 2 million.

Eight gang members topple in Operation Domino

EIGHT other members of James Carlin's gang had already been jailed for a total of 38 years for drug dealing offences before their leader's conviction yesterday.

They included Carlin's younger brother, Terry, 22, who was jailed for three years and nine months after pleading guilty at earlier hearings.

Terry Carlin, who also stayed at the family home in Niddrie's Hay Gardens, had already been jailed for 16 months after beating a man unconscious.

Carlin was caught on CCTV repeatedly punching, kicking and stamping on Scott Penman's head and body on a garage forecourt in Edinburgh Road, Musselburgh on February 1 last year. He was also jailed for a year for beating up a shopkeeper's brother outside a store in Hay Drive, Craigmillar, last October.

The other members of James Carlin's gang targeted by Operation Domino all admitted drug offences at an earlier hearing which could not be reported until now.

They were:

Darren Sutherland, 26, of Bingham Broadway, Bingham, who was jailed for five-years and three months.

James Arthur, 22, of Hosie Rigg, near The Jewel, who was jailed for five-years and three months.

James Young, 25, of Captain's Drive, Gracemount, who was jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Andrew McQueenie, 22, of Cavalry Park Drive, Duddingston, who was jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Darryl Coll, 21, of Vandeleur Avenue, Craigentinny, who was jailed for three-years.

Lee Sugden, 21, of Bellfield Court, Musselburgh, who was jailed for three-years and nine months.

James Hunter, 20, of Gilmerton Dykes Road, Gilmerton, who was sentenced to four-and-a-half years detention.