Craig Clifton, 40, has been jailed for 18 years for leading an organised crime group that laundered around £1 million a year through artwork and a network of properties. Liverpool Crown Court heard how the gang, which operated for some seven years, used his mother's property company to wash the proceeds of a lucrative drugs business.
Merseyside Police investigations into Clifton's criminality began in 2018, with covert surveillance and telecommunications data identifying that his organised crime group ran three separate graft phones offering cocaine, heroin and cannabis for sale to customers. One phone, operating from July 2019 onwards, was said to have had an "annual earning potential" of between £600,000 and £1 million.
Drugs and seizures worth up to £1.6m
Stella Hayden, prosecuting, described how this line had a total of 877 saved contacts and was estimated to have supplied between 10.738kg and 21.476kg of drugs per year. A second graft phone, run by both Clifton and Sam Murphy, supplied both cocaine and cannabis, while a third, operated by Dylan McPartland, dealt solely in the class B substance.
Other conspirators, including Connor Whittle and Joshua De-Asha, were recruited to deliver drugs to users, with the home addresses of Robert McGregor and Ruth Mackenzie used to store and package stock. A series of seizures ultimately saw police recover a total of 80.5kg of cannabis, 4.1kg of cocaine and half a kilogram of heroin, worth an estimated £985,059 to £1,642,078 at street level.
This included a search warrant executed at the home address of Francis Stewart's sister on Grafton Street in Dingle on September 14 2022, leading to the recovery of 152g of cocaine, 8.5kg of cannabis resin and 4.5kg of caffeine and paracetamol, common cutting agents in the adulteration of drugs, with this haul said to be worth between £84,581 and £132,952. Officers also attended the 25-year-old's own home on Stonegate Drive in Dingle the same day and found 0.75kg of cannabis resin, valued at £7,568 to £11,328.
Dylan McPartland's home on Beresford Road in Dingle was subsequently raided on April 3 2023, leading to the discovery of a quantity of cannabis and £19,460 in cash. His sister Demi McPartland was present at the time and, when questioned by PCs over a Samsung phone, she initially claimed that the mobile was her own before stating that it was "the baby's". While the device was not seized by police as a result, it was subsequently found to have been used as one of the OCG's graft phones, operated by Dylan McPartland in the supply of cannabis. Another address on Beresford Road, linked to the 28-year-old, was subsequently searched, with £93,005 in cash found stashed in a safe behind a wardrobe.
Property business used to launder drug money
A series of search warrants were also executed at addresses across South Liverpool on March 19 2023. This saw 1.2kg of cocaine and 3.16g of heroin recovered from Mackenzie's home on Jacob Street in Dingle, which was owned by Clifton's mum's property company C&C Estates Northwest Ltd. Both Murphy and McGregor were present at this time, with one of the gang's graft phones being recovered from the former's car. A set of scales and other drug paraphernalia were meanwhile found in the kitchen.
McGregor's house on Fordlea Road in Norris Green was searched on the same date, with officers recovering 62.27kg of cannabis and nearly 2kg of cocaine, valued at between £79,960 and £199,900 at street level. Cash totalling £1,240 was also discovered. Around half a kilo of cocaine, worth £20,116 to £50,290, was found in the garden of Murphy and Clifton's shared home on Adcote Road in Dovecot. Around 200g of cannabis, with an estimated value of £2,237 and £3,321, was also discovered inside, along with £3,309 in cash.
Another address on Aigburth Road, also owned by C&C Estates, was searched on May 19 2023 and found to be housing nearly half a kilo of heroin and 9.3kg of cannabis. Murphy was observed leaving the property in question a short time before the search warrant was executed. A search of a house on Montpelier Drive in Dingle, linked to Clifton, revealed a Tesco bag containing £5,110 in cash, a set of digital scales and a number of knotted plastic packages of drugs hidden in a cupboard underneath the stairs. This seizure was said to have been worth between £9,000 and £21,000.
With a cash counting machine recovered from Clifton and Murphy's home, a series of messages found on the former's phone, dated May 19 2022, showed pictures of bundles of cash totalling £644,280. His bank accounts were found to have an overall income of £416,664 between 2019 and 2025 with cash deposits of £193,245.
Artwork purchases and arrests
Clifton was evidenced to have "played an active role in managing" C&C Estates from 2018 onwards, having used the business as a means to launder the proceeds of his drug dealing activities. This included the purchase of a house on Monro Street in Dingle at auction in 2019, with £6,000 of payments relating to the sale traced directly back to monies placed into his account immediately beforehand. Drug money was also laundered through homes rented out via this business, with Mackenzie's lease at the address on Jacob Street having allowed him to divert money through her bank account. Clifton was also shown to have made mortgage payments, amounting to around £60,000, in relation to his mother's properties.
Clifton was said to have arranged the mortgaging of the house on Montpelier Drive and the re-mortgaging of another address on Mill Street in Dingle, having set both up in the name of co-defendant Jason Eaton. This released funds of £40,000 and again allowed monies to be funnelled through both Eaton and Mackenzie's bank accounts under the guise of rental payments.
Detectives also found evidence on Murphy's phone which showed that he had purchased artwork from Clarendon Fine Art Gallery in Liverpool ONE, paying in cash. His messages revealed that he had planned to spend £5,000 to £6,000 on one piece, with a receipt recovered from his home showing that he had paid £995 for another in July 2021.
A further series of arrests were made in connection with the investigation on November 13 2025. This saw a quantity of cannabis seized from De-Asha when he was held at a property on Beaumont Street in Toxteth, with a vacuum packed parcel containing 123g of cocaine and £75,460 cash discovered in McGregor's home. Stewart was caught unsuccessfully attempting to flush drugs down the toilet when officers came knocking at his door. Whittle was detained at another property on Montpelier Drive, where £3,850 in cash was found in a carrier bag.
Sentences handed down
Clifton, of no fixed address, admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine, heroin and cannabis, possession of criminal property, converting criminal property, two counts of being concerned in money laundering and breaching a suspended sentence order, imposed back in 2020 for possession of cannabis with intent to supply. The 40-year-old showed no reaction as he was jailed for a total of 18 years today, Tuesday.
Sentencing, Judge Louise Brandon told him: "At the centre of this criminal enterprise was Craig Clifton, who, between November 2018 and November 2025, headed a drugs supply business, supplying commercial quantities of cocaine, heroin and cannabis. The group used several graft phones to facilitate what was a profitable enterprise."
Murphy, who was previously handed 30 months for possession of cocaine with intent to supply in 2014, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, heroin and cannabis, possession of criminal property and converting criminal property. The 35-year-old was handed 12 years behind bars. Judge Brandon told him: "You were Craig Clifton's right hand man, managing the cocaine graft line with him and instructing the street level dealers, Mr De-Asha and Mr Whittle. You were also involved in the adulteration of wholesale quantities of drugs for supply at street level and played a key organisational role in the conspiracy."
McGregor admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine, heroin and cannabis and two counts of possession of criminal property. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, the 44-year-old was locked up for eight years. Stewart pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis and was sentenced to six years in prison. Whittle, of Dingle Vale, admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and was also given six years imprisonment. De-Asha pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and possession of cannabis and was jailed for six years. Dylan McPartland pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cannabis and possession of criminal property and received four years behind bars.
Eaton, of Montpelier Drive, was convicted of being concerned in money laundering after a trial and was handed a two-year imprisonment suspended for 18 months with 180 hours of unpaid work. Demi McPartland, also of Jacob Street, admitted participating in the activities of an organised crime group and was handed a community order with 120 hours of unpaid work during an earlier hearing last month. Mackenzie was found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine and money laundering by a jury; the 53-year-old will be sentenced at a later date.
