A gangster has boasted about his easy jail time as he made prison hooch and glorified the prison overlords who took him under their wing. Cade Johnson was given the protection of drug baron Robert “Birdman” O’Hara during his time in Addiewell jail in West Lothian, where he associated with a gang of major criminals.
Using an illicit prison mobile phone, Johnson released a series of photos and videos on TikTok, giving shout-outs to O’Hara and other main players from Scotland’s underworld scene during his jail stretch. Posting a pic of himself in a Manchester United strip, taglined “livefromthetrenches”, Johnson named “Birdy” O’Hara and James “The Don” White. Both men are among Scotland’s Premier League of gang bosses.
TikTok posts from inside prison
Johnson also boasted of injuring his knuckles after fighting with Scottish drug addicts in the jail. Videos published on TikTok during Johnson’s jail stretch featured drill music, which is known for lyrics that glorify violence. Johnson posed for a photo with jail hooch and in another sporting a Gucci polo shirt, which retails at £830.
One source said: “Johnson was in with the bricks at Addiewell. If you have the favour of the top guys there - particularly O’Hara, you’re going to do far easier time.” The source added: “Whenever you get English criminals coming up to do crimes involving firearms in Scotland there will be a Scottish criminal gang involved and cross-border organised crime connections will have been made.”
The gangster, from Bury, near Manchester, says in one video: “All my knuckles are broke from beating up these f****** Scottish junkies man.” In another he says: “Man’s got IRA here, UDA here, got Christians here, got Muslims - everybody got to unite and stick together man.” He then sings to a drill track. Another film shows Johnson in a chilling mask, doing drill, surrounded by five other masked and black-clad prisoners. He tells his online followers: “Still in Scotland, in the bando (drug den), cooking vodka.”
Arrests and sentencing
In March 2019, Johnson, then 21, was arrested alongside associates by armed police in a Mercedes near the Forge Retail Park in Glasgow. Police recovered balaclavas, counterfeit cash, petrol, and Royal Mail disguises used for a planned gangland hit. Two pistols and live ammunition were hidden in a nearby Airbnb.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in serious organised crime in December that year at the High Court in Glasgow. He was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison and the court also issued a Serious Crime Prevention Order restricting his future movements and travel.
In December last year, shortly after his release, Johnson was arrested again near Glasgow’s Hilton Hotel during an armed police sting. He was caught alongside convicted jewellery thief Jason Britton, who was carrying a converted pistol, modified bullets, and £10,285 in dirty cash.
Johnson had been charged with offences alongside Britton but the Crown accepted his not guilty pleas. Johnson did, however, plead guilty to defying the SCPO by failing to notify cops he was travelling to Scotland. The pair will be sentenced in November pending background reports and were remanded in custody. Britton was caged for five years and 10 months in 2015 after he was part of an armed gang who robbed £230,000 worth of high-end jewellery from the Rox store in Glasgow’s Argyll Arcade. The gang were busted when two pals were caught wearing the stolen watches.
