Former South Shields footballer jailed for his role in a cocaine production ring

Former footballer Daryll Hall, of Farnley Close, County Durham, has been jailed for his role in a Leeds-based cocaine and amphetamine production ring.

The 39-year-old was one of four final members of the organised crime group that peddled drugs and firearms across the north of England to have been jailed following a long-running National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation.

Hall, who was part of The Mariner’s 2015/16 league winning side, was sentenced to 15 years behind bars after he was found of guilty of conspiracy to supply a controlled drug of Class A.

He was sentenced in his absence having absconded before the start of November's trial. Work to locate him and bring him into custody is ongoing.

Police foiled the criminal enterprise, which was headed by 39-year-old Carl O'Flaherty, due to the NCA-led UK response to the infiltration and takedown of encrypted communications platform EncroChat.

Hall was one of O'Flaherty's top customers, with members of the criminal organisation regularly travelling to the North East to deliver kilos of diluted cocaine to the former footballer.

Speaking after the sentencing, NCA Operations Manager Nigel Coles said: "Our complex and extensive investigation has brought down every member of this dangerous criminal network, from the mastermind behind the conspiracy to couriers transporting both firearms and drugs across the north of England.

"Lengthy custodial sentences have been given to all the ten members of this organised crime group and the investigation has stopped significant quantities of harmful drugs reaching our communities, together with the seizure of deadly firearms.

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"At the NCA we are committed to our mission of protecting the public from serious and organised crime, and in dismantling this network we have made our communities a safer place to live."

The NCA has confirmed that a total of ten people have been convicted and sentenced as part of this investigation, with jail terms totalling 118 years.