Former Liverpool football prodigy Jamie Cassidy has been jailed for his role in a drug conspiracy.
A former Liverpool FC prodigy was today jailed for 13 years for drug trafficking - cementing the shocking downfall of a young talent who was once picked over Steven Gerrard before turning to crime when an injury ended his career.
Jamie Cassidy's part in the business was revealed when French spies cracked the encrypted EncroChat communication system, described as a 'WhatsApp for criminals 'and he was arrested at his home in Knowsley in November 2020. A few years later the attacking midfielder was part of the Liverpool team that won the club's first FA Youth Cup with a 4-1 win over two legs against a famously good West Ham team, featuring Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard.
Judge Nicholas Dean, Recorder of Manchester, jailed Jamie Cassidy, serving at HMP Liverpool, for 13 years and three months. He told the former footballer: 'Your role was rather different and more limited than that of your brother or Ahmed. Meanwhile, his older brother played a 'leading role' in drugs importation and the buying and selling of class A drugs while Ahmed acted as a middleman and 'facilitator', transferring vast sums of cash to buy and sell on drugs.
One associate was arrested in a car in Liverpool where police found two Asda bags for life containing £249,940. READ MORE: The forgotten 'Class of 93': How stars of England's 1993 U-15 squad became physiotherapists, tragically died in a car crash and conceded one of football's greatest goals - as their teammate faces jail for flooding Britain with cocaine Advertisement In April and May 2020, fear was growing among top-tier criminals about the safety of the EncroChat network, with Cassidy among those switching to a SKY EEC encrypted device as an alternative.
After a wave of arrests, Cassidy began to believe he was one of the 'lucky ones' whose EncroChat had not been compromised and so returned to the UK - where he was promptly arrested and charged. Jamie Carragher, Michael Owen and, more recently, Trent Alexander-Arnold are among the stellar names to have graduated through Liverpool's youth system, before going on to become global superstars.
The manager of the England senior team Glenn Hoddle was so impressed with what he saw he invited Cassidy to spend time with the squad before one match because he was sure he would be a future international. He worked alongside his elder brother Jonathan, 50, a former builder who headed the operation that for several years saw regular shipments of cocaine to Amsterdam from cartels in South America.The young star also attracted attention from England manager Glenn Hoddle
The multimillion-pound enterprise involved a money laundering operation and the brothers invested in several pieces of property and land in Liverpool. The manager of the England senior team Glenn Hoddle was so impressed with what he saw he invited Cassidy to spend time with the squad before one match because he was sure he would be a future international
Gerrard also mentions Cassidy in his 2006 autobiography, mentioning his 'pure quality' banter and expressing jealousy at his opportunities to train at the Liverpool training centre as a youngster.
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