Smuggler jailed over £500k heroin haul
9:25am Thursday 31st January 2013 in News
A DRUG smuggler has been jailed for 16 years for helping to bring a haul of heroin worth more than half-a-million pounds into the UK.
Stephen Tudge, aged 52, of Tennyson Road, Farnworth, worked with two accomplices to sne ak 5.5kg of 100-per-cent pure heroin with a street value of about £582,000 into the country from Belgium. Tudge, along with his two co-conspirators, denied any wrongdoing, but a jury at Sheffield Crown Court found him guilty on Tuesday of one charge of conspiracy to import Class A drugs after a two-week trial.
William Pearson, aged 52, of Goodwood Avenue, Sale, was jailed for 14 years and David Mather, aged 56, of Beech Grove, Salford, was jailed for 18 years, though he did not show up at court.
During the trial, the court heard Tudge, Mather and Pearson were in regular contact with each other before Border Force officers seized the drugs on May 7, 2010.
They would hold talks to plan how to carry out the smuggling attempt. Their scheme was to use a lorry trailer that had been specially adapted to hide the drugs.
The trailer arrived from Zebrugge in Belgium at about 7.30pm on May 6 and was parked in Killingholme, Lincolnshire.
The gang’s plan was for Mather to tell a driver to collect the trailer and deliver it to Warrington.
However, Border Force officers discovered the drugs concealed in 32 parcels hidden in a secret compartment in the lorry.
The driver was arrested and later released when police found he had no knowledge of the smuggling operation. After more than a year of police investigation, Tudge, who studied at Harper Green School as a boy, and Mather were arrested on May 22, 2011, while Pearson was apprehended seven months later.
All three denied knowledge of the operation, but they were charged after giving conflicting accounts of events.
Speaking after the court case, Border Force assistant director Malcolm Bragg said drug smuggling was despicable.
He said: “Our officers prevented a significant amount of heroin from reaching UK streets.
“This was a long and complex investigation into what was a sophisticated smuggling attempt.
“The sentences given to this gang should serve as a warning for others involved in this disgusting trade — we will catch you and you will spend many years in jail.”
Comments(14)
macauley
says...
1:03pm Thu 31 Jan 13
sunfun
says...
2:22pm Thu 31 Jan 13
Mindur Own Business
says...
10:01pm Thu 31 Jan 13
You have no idea of the circumstances or the mans background or family!
For you to say he deserves death is disgusting and ridiculous!
Get back on your pedestal living your high and mighty life! God help you if you every have to suffer anything other than perfect!
macauley
says...
11:13pm Thu 31 Jan 13
sunfun wrote:you said nothing wrong there sunfun.
Indonesia sentences British woman to death for drug smuggling. Tudge should get the same sentence here, and save us downtroden taxpayers the expence of keeping him.
Mindur Own Business
says...
11:43pm Thu 31 Jan 13
Get down from them high horses!
He's worth every penny it's going to cost tax payers and more!! That's from the mouth of someone who is a tax payer and always has been!!
me over here!
says...
1:17pm Fri 1 Feb 13
Mindur Own Business...."Get back on your pedestal living your high and mighty life! God help you if you every have to suffer anything other than perfect!”.....
I take it you know these people & I take they used to live on their pedestal & hadnt suffered anything other than the perfect high life....eh?!!!
Usickfuk
says...
6:59pm Fri 1 Feb 13
macauley
says...
10:31pm Fri 1 Feb 13
Usickfuk wrote:nope.
Sad pathetic morons. Nothing better to wish death on someone you know nothing about. What they have done might be wrong but they certainly do not deserve death! You should be ashamed of yourselves!
clitheroe blue boy
says...
11:39am Sat 2 Feb 13
Mindur Own Business wrote:We know nothing about this person or the circumstances or the mans background?
You need to get lives!! Sitting there commenting and passing judgement on someone you know nothing about!
You have no idea of the circumstances or the mans background or family!
For you to say he deserves death is disgusting and ridiculous!
Get back on your pedestal living your high and mighty life! God help you if you every have to suffer anything other than perfect!
We now know he's a convicted smug smuggler who was prepared to flood the streets with class A drugs.
I wonder how most drug addicts pay for their drugs?
Perhaps he had an unhappy upbringing as a child, or lost his job to provide for his family, or was forced to smuggle drugs into the country? (Or maybe he's got a previous criminal record stretching back several decades?)
That makes a good excuse then, and he should have been let off!
I've no doubt his family and friends will say he's a good family man and its a case of mistaken identity.
What other excuses could their be for him to be a big drug smuggler?
Mindur Own Business
says...
10:33pm Sat 2 Feb 13
A drug addict chooses to take drugs!! They have the choice to take them or not!!
Perhaps you set of sad b#stards had unhappy childhoods and still have unhappy lives to make you that sad and pathetic you feel the need to go on line and make stupid comments about people's wrong doings!!
Find a new hobbie!! Go and knit!!!
clitheroe blue boy
says...
6:11pm Sun 3 Feb 13
Mindur Own Business wrote:I didn't say he should die? So get your facts right before you make comments making yourself look even more stupid than you actually are!
I did not say he was innocent or should be let off!! But who gives you or any other f##ker the right to say he deserves to die!!
A drug addict chooses to take drugs!! They have the choice to take them or not!!
Perhaps you set of sad b#stards had unhappy childhoods and still have unhappy lives to make you that sad and pathetic you feel the need to go on line and make stupid comments about people's wrong doings!!
Find a new hobbie!! Go and knit!!!
He's a drug pushing criminal who knew what he was letting himself in for. Good riddance I say.
Your probably a bit upset as you have lost your supplier. I'm sure you know plenty more.
You obviously know the man, his background and the circumstances around his drug supplying, so tell us?
I doubt you will.
judgementaltwats
says...
12:58pm Wed 6 Feb 13
clitheroe blue boy wrote:You are only entitled to say good riddance when you know the truth behind it. Can i ask how many of you actually know the man? none? i thought not. I dont understand how you can sit around and judge someone you dont **** know. for all you know he could very well be innocent... are you forgetting that there are two other people involved or can you just not read?! why victimise one person and not the others? im not saying you should victimise any, because you shouldn't but you all need to back off and leave the man alone. There has been many occasions were people have been wrongly imprisoned. Maybe if you looked a little closer you'd see that your comments are hurtful and unnecessary to those that care about him. like his children, family and friends. imagine if your children had to go through this? watching people slate their father all over the internet without knowing the full background story. God forbid it ever happened to you or your family.... because i can bet it would be totally different if it was one of you. you'd be full of excuses claiming that its 'different'. no. and i agree with 'mindur own business' ... drug takers CHOOSE to take them, no one forces them too, it is simply a lfestyle choice. Get your heads out your arses and stop defending drug taking arseholes that are just as bad as those that supply the drugs!!!!!!!!!
Mindur Own Business wrote: I did not say he was innocent or should be let off!! But who gives you or any other f##ker the right to say he deserves to die!! A drug addict chooses to take drugs!! They have the choice to take them or not!! Perhaps you set of sad b#stards had unhappy childhoods and still have unhappy lives to make you that sad and pathetic you feel the need to go on line and make stupid comments about people's wrong doings!! Find a new hobbie!! Go and knit!!!I didn't say he should die? So get your facts right before you make comments making yourself look even more stupid than you actually are! He's a drug pushing criminal who knew what he was letting himself in for. Good riddance I say. Your probably a bit upset as you have lost your supplier. I'm sure you know plenty more. You obviously know the man, his background and the circumstances around his drug supplying, so tell us? I doubt you will.
clitheroe blue boy
says...
6:14pm Wed 6 Feb 13
judgementaltwats wrote:No I don't know him, but Mindur Own Business gives the impression he/she does?
clitheroe blue boy wrote:You are only entitled to say good riddance when you know the truth behind it. Can i ask how many of you actually know the man? none? i thought not. I dont understand how you can sit around and judge someone you dont **** know. for all you know he could very well be innocent... are you forgetting that there are two other people involved or can you just not read?! why victimise one person and not the others? im not saying you should victimise any, because you shouldn't but you all need to back off and leave the man alone. There has been many occasions were people have been wrongly imprisoned. Maybe if you looked a little closer you'd see that your comments are hurtful and unnecessary to those that care about him. like his children, family and friends. imagine if your children had to go through this? watching people slate their father all over the internet without knowing the full background story. God forbid it ever happened to you or your family.... because i can bet it would be totally different if it was one of you. you'd be full of excuses claiming that its 'different'. no. and i agree with 'mindur own business' ... drug takers CHOOSE to take them, no one forces them too, it is simply a lfestyle choice. Get your heads out your arses and stop defending drug taking arseholes that are just as bad as those that supply the drugs!!!!!!!!!
Mindur Own Business wrote: I did not say he was innocent or should be let off!! But who gives you or any other f##ker the right to say he deserves to die!! A drug addict chooses to take drugs!! They have the choice to take them or not!! Perhaps you set of sad b#stards had unhappy childhoods and still have unhappy lives to make you that sad and pathetic you feel the need to go on line and make stupid comments about people's wrong doings!! Find a new hobbie!! Go and knit!!!I didn't say he should die? So get your facts right before you make comments making yourself look even more stupid than you actually are! He's a drug pushing criminal who knew what he was letting himself in for. Good riddance I say. Your probably a bit upset as you have lost your supplier. I'm sure you know plenty more. You obviously know the man, his background and the circumstances around his drug supplying, so tell us? I doubt you will.
But they havent enlightened anybody into the circumstances, his background or family, to suggest he's an innocent party in all this?
Re he could be innocent? The assistant director of the border force said "This was a long and complex investigation into what was a sophisticated smuggling attemp"
This would suggest to me that there was overwhelming evidence of the offence, hence he was found guilty?
Or maybe he was stiched up by the Belgium & English Police and the Border Force who just happened have £500k of heroin lying around.
I await news of his appeal in the paper.
And if I was his family, I wouldn't be sad enough to go searching for news about his conviction and I'd be disgusted if it was my dad, but maybe that's how he provided for his family, so they are not too bothered and will take over the family business.
Id be embarrassed if my family saw my vulgar name of 'judgementalt***s' on here. Your family must be so proud of you aswell.
People will comment about 'him' because he's from Bolton, like I can only assume most of the people who comment on here are, inc me, and are also proud to be so, but news like this gives Bolton a bad name.
I couldn't care less about Sale or Salford, as I have no connections to either of those places.
Imagine if your children got into drugs, thanks to people like Tudge who supplied them? Like I'm sure you would still be so forgiving.
And I said good riddance as in he's going to jail and off the streets, I didn't say he should die and I personally don't believe in the death sentence.
And what's with all the !!!!!!!!! ?
Now go and defend somebody else who has been wrongly convicted.

The Bullet says...
1:03pm Thu 31 Jan 13