A cocaine trafficker was brought to justice after a contact gave his away his real name in a message. Drug runner Kurtis Bolton, who used the EncroChat handle 'Ladbrookes', thought his messages were too heavily encrypted for police to crack.
Nicola Daley, prosecuting, told the court the first clue to his identity came after he arranged for another crook, using the handle 'TastefulScooter', to come and collect some cash. Ms Daley said: "Tastefulscooter’ later indicated to another handle, 'PoundCake' that he had sorted ‘da dow’, i.e the money, with 'Kurt'.
The court heard on one occasion, on April 25, 2020, messages showed Bolton was being trusted to hold onto £140,000 in cash. Bolton, who was the pillion passenger, was arrested when the bikes were forced to stop because a recovery vehicle was blocking the road. The 26-year-old told the arresting officers he had a knife in the waistband of his trousers, and a dagger in a sheath was seized.
Jo Maxwell, defending, said her client had a two-year-old son with his long-term partner and had made a "catastrophic mistake". She said: "He wants to know his earliest date of release so he can put his life back together, for his family and his partner, who he is in a settled relationship with."