Edward Jarvis used the EncroChat handle 'SoftHerb' to communicate with his boss Vincent Coggins, who can be named for the first time after court reporting restrictions were lifted
A “drug supply heavyweight” who helped a powerful gangland figure nicknamed “The Headmaster” to blackmail a man in return for his son’s life was convicted.
A series of court cases heard over the past four years involving members of the OCG have been subject to a media blackout. Reporting restrictions on the naming of Coggins and his role as the head of the gang can now be revealed after Jarvis, who denied one count of conspiring with others to supply class A drugs, another count of the same offence concerning diamorphine and a conspiracy to blackmail charge, was unanimously found guilty by a jury at Manchester Crown Court.
The Coggins operation used EncroChat phones to conduct their business and communicated on a day-to-day basis. Conversations analysed following the hack of the network helped law enforcement to attribute various handles to gang members involved in the conspiracies. Coggins was identified by the handle “MoonlitBoat”, while Jarvis was unmasked as “SoftHerb”.
Woodford, using the handle “KingWasp”, referred to him as “Jarvo” while another handle, “MexicanNova”, referenced his daughter Bobbie and her partner who worked as a plumber. Mr Leach told the court Jarvis’ communications saw him send a postcode for his address to two EncroChat users. He told “FrostyBoom”: “I’ll wait for you in road, fat, baldy head, just drive in car park.”
Messages attributed to Jarvis revealed him discussing the sales of “tops” and “botts” . The EncroChat messages showed the gang discussing international shipments and deals, while also advertising their “belter” product to buyers in Scotland, South Wales and elsewhere. “Although Brian Maxwell Jr always denied that he had been responsible for the robbery, and indeed others altogether have now been convicted of that robbery, as a result of the unwarranted menaces or threats received, his father was so afraid that his son would be killed by Coggins or people acting on his behalf, that he agreed to pay Coggins the value of the drugs - over a million pounds - in return for lifting the threat to his son’s life.
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