Alex Midgley, a 31-year-old aspiring cryptocurrency broker known as the 'Spanish Scouser', has been sentenced to four years and 10 months in prison for his role in a plot to launder £5 million of drug money belonging to notorious organised crime figure Francis Coggins. The case, heard at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday, revealed Midgley's involvement in money laundering and drug trafficking conspiracies uncovered through the encrypted EncroChat network.
EncroChat Messages Reveal Criminal Network
Midgley, of Custley Hey in Stockbridge Village, was identified as the user of the EncroChat handle 'Viper East'. Other users referred to him as 'Midge' and 'Spanish Scouser', referencing his birth in Malaga, Spain. He shared a business card containing his contact details during exchanges on the network, which was infiltrated by French police in 2020. Prosecuting, Stephen McNally described Midgley as a 'well connected individual' involved in discussions to transport 90kg of cannabis from southern England to Merseyside.
In one exchange, user 'Lemon Lager'—identified as Jan Luke Carmichael, a Huyton drug dealer jailed for 12-and-a-half years in 2023—asked Midgley if his brother would 'want to do some driving work'. This involved delivering '90 jackets' for £3,000 in 'wages'. Midgley discussed the matter with another user, 'First Up', suggesting a driver named 'Baz' could complete the job. He replied to Carmichael: 'Mate, I've got a driver who can do it. My driver has a van already bro, a Transit one lad. This is our driver mate. That's his job bro.'
Bitcoin Laundering Scheme for Coggins' Firm
Midgley also engaged in discussions to trade cryptocurrencies as a method of laundering cash from high-level organised crime. On April 20, 2020, he messaged the handle 'Literal Tooth': 'The firm who are investing into Bitcoin are a heavy firm from my city and they don't f*** about. I just don't need headaches you see.' Earlier that month, he advised 'Mixed Jet'—the handle of Francis Coggins, a leader of the Huyton Firm jailed for 18-and-a-half years in November 2024—that it was a good time to invest in Bitcoin. Coggins replied: 'got people looking for millions'. Midgley then told another user, 'Daring Bee': 'People wanting to buy five million. Cash mate.'
When Daring Bee could not handle the transaction due to the large sum, Midgley contacted First Up and Literal Tooth for connections. Literal Tooth boasted of an associate in London who 'worked in a bank and stole f***ing millions and millions'. Midgley sent Coggins a screenshot of a text conversation with this contact, who said: 'Volume is no problem. I prefer to do it in 100k chunks. We can do cash, but it has a longer process and it's costly. The rate will be anywhere from six to eight per cent depending on the BTC rate. My process is that we will meet and check the cash. When the cash is confirmed, I will buy the BTC and have it sent direct to your wallet.'
Midgley sent further screenshots indicating the cash had been transported to London and 'they could start tomorrow'. However, the deal encountered issues, leading him to seek a different banker. Another candidate, 'Solid Goose', told him: 'I can do two million every week.'
Arrest and Sentencing
Midgley was arrested on April 23, 2024, on Old Lane in Prescot while exiting a Ford Transit van bearing his cleaning company Eco Ultra One's logo. A search of an address on Portico Lane, which he had been observed leaving earlier that morning, revealed £24,620 in cash. Defending, Louise Santamera said this money related to his business but had not been declared to HMRC. She noted that Midgley had become a father to a baby daughter in recent weeks.
Santamera added: 'He was born and raised in Spain. He relocated back to the UK when he was 17 and studied for a degree in sports science and management at Loughborough University, graduating in 2017. His father had died a year before in traumatic circumstances. The majority of the contacts in the phone were associates of his father. Once covid struck, he foolishly used this phone to try to establish himself as a cryptocurrency broker. While he knew something of Coggins' reputation, he did not know him personally. He was driven by hubris and positioned himself between criminals who were a lot more sophisticated than him. In reality, he was a delusional opportunist who was wet behind the ears, despite his apparent confidence.'
Midgley admitted conspiracy to supply cannabis, conspiracy to convert criminal property, and possession of criminal property. Appearing via video link from HMP Liverpool on crutches, he was sentenced to four years and 10 months. Judge Garrett Byrne said: 'You, together with others, were organising the sale of kilogram quantities of the drug to be sold on the streets. Those who engage in this conduct must expect to receive terms of imprisonment. The prosecution submit that you played a significant role. I think that is right, and there is no suggestion otherwise. I do accept that many of the contacts you had were those of your deceased father. There was an element of immaturity and bravado.'
The judge noted that no actual transactions occurred, and Midgley had not reoffended in the six years since the offences. He accepted genuine remorse and that Midgley was struggling with grief and depression at the time. 'It is a tragedy that someone like you has ended up in this position,' Judge Byrne concluded.
