A father from Roby called himself “Joey Barton” while acting as one of the top figures in the UK arm of an international drugs plot. Christopher Kenny, 34, of Marsh Grove, was linked to the trafficking of nearly 2,000kg of heroin and cocaine, potentially worth tens of millions of pounds.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that Kenny was connected to two separate operations that saw shipments of class A drugs transported into the UK from Holland. One plot saw Guy Remington, from Herefordshire, undertake nine importations between May and September 2023, with the substances then couriered to a farm in Deeside, North Wales.
Shipments and seizures
Prosecutor Martine Snowdon described how this led to the seizure of 505kg of cocaine and 108kg of heroin, worth between £15 million and £21 million at wholesale value, on September 23 that year. The scheme was said to have involved shipments amounting to an estimated 2,378kg to 3,570kg overall.
Kenny's involvement was evidenced to have begun between the fifth and sixth smuggling trips, having messaged Remington in July 2023 and introduced himself as “Ying's pal”. At least 1,555kg was brought into the country by the organised crime group after this date.
A Hungarian national, Kristian Popovic, later took on the role of courier, being paid £300 per kilogram of drugs he brought into the UK. He made deliveries to Liver Industrial Estate in Aintree, including 45kg supplied to father and son Raymond and Nathan Kinnear, worth £1.5 million alone, between March and May 2024, although Kenny was not evidentially linked to this phase.
Aliases and role
From December 2024 to May 2025, Popovic transported further quantities of cocaine from the Netherlands to industrial premises on Lower Bank View in Bootle. Having been arrested with 80kg concealed under the floor of his Mercedes Sprinter van, he was calculated to have been involved in the importation of around 311kg of class A drugs during this six-month period.
Kenny was found to have been involved in the trafficking of a total of 1,866kg of heroin and cocaine, or “almost two tonnes of class A drugs”, on a “conservative estimate”. He was in “regular contact” with an associate known as “Duracell”, believed to be based in South America, and used the pseudonyms “Myers” and “Joey Barton” during his dealings.
The court heard Kenny acted as the “first point of contact in the UK”, relaying information and passing on instructions, and was a “senior figure in the UK arm of the conspiracy”. He also operated his own “sideline” in selling on kilogram quantities of drugs, with messages showing a 20kg portion of an imported shipment being held back for him on one occasion.
Sentence and impact
Kenny, defended by Richard Pratt KC, has no previous convictions. The court heard he had worked with the Samaritans within Walton prison following his arrest and remand into custody, and assisted in the education of other inmates.
Kenny admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a blue North Face tracksuit top, he was jailed for 20 years on Wednesday and handed a serious crime prevention order running for five years following his release.
Sentencing, Judge Neil Flewitt KC said: “In my view, it is fanciful to suggest that you would simply appear from nowhere between the fifth and sixth trips to play an important part in a highly organised conspiracy to import class A drugs. I have no doubt that you willingly involved yourself in the conspiracy and were trusted by others to play an important role in it.”
He added: “I am satisfied that you were involved with others in the safe receipt, distribution and onward supply of the imported drugs. In that way, you were organising, directing, buying and selling on a commercial scale, and you had substantial links to and influence on others in a chain.”
Raymond Kinnear was previously handed 17 years for two counts of conspiracy to supply cocaine and one of conspiracy to supply ketamine in May last year, with son Nathan sentenced to seven years and four months for a single charge of conspiracy to supply cocaine. Remington was locked up for seven years in 2024, while Popovic received 19 years in March after being found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine.
