Police caught the mum of a notorious drug dealer “red handed” as she sat on a bed next to a pile of cash. But the raid on Gillian Melville’s house, which unearthed nearly £500,000, had not even scratched the surface of her son’s criminal empire.
An investigation by the National Crime Agency revealed that an organised crime group, led by her son Alan Causer, had been responsible for trafficking hundreds of kilos of heroin and cocaine across the country.
Causer benefited from his crimes to the tune of £11,182,460, prosecution lawyers told Liverpool Crown Court in a hearing on Friday to try and claw back some of the gang’s cash under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Causer and his cronies were banged up for a combined total of more than 50 years after appearing before a judge – now the authorities are applying to the courts to seize the fortunes gang members allegedly made from their activities.
Henry Riding, prosecuting, detailed how Causer was calculated to have made millions from his involvement in crime – but the court also heard that the only asset available for seizure from him at present is a sum of £3,730 in cash which was recovered upon his arrest, Liverpool Echo reports.
Judge Denis Watson KC therefore made an order in these amounts. However, Merseyside Police will be able to take monies up to the value of the higher figure from him should he come into such monies in the future.
Gillian Melville’s partner Ian Shacklady, who lived with her at the property on Marchbank Road in Skelmersdale, was said to have made £1,245,000 from his crimes, but likewise, the court heard that he had no current available assets, resulting in a nominal £1 order which will be deemed paid by the courts.
A fourth defendant, John Germaine, was said to have netted a staggering £12,349,684,60 as part of the plot while another co-accused, Daniel Healey, pocketed £745,020.74. Similarly to Shacklady, nominal £1 orders were made in their cases after they too were deemed to have no realisable assets.
On September 15 2021 cops raided the home of Ian Shacklady and Gillian Melville, following a joint probe by the NCA and Merseyside Police. Cops found Melville “sitting in a bed in one of the bedrooms with neatly stacked piles of cash on the bed to one side of her”.
The 66-year-old had been “caught red handed” with “multiple bags containing large quantities of cash on the floor at her feet” Mr Riding told the court. Cops found £481,375 in cash stashed around the property.
Police also found four kilos of cannabis with an estimated street value of £40,000 as well as two “ledgers” – described as a “meticulous record of their drug dealing activities” which were “consistent with the supply and distribution of at least 360kg of cocaine and 25kg of heroin”, as well as the movement of more than £1.4million in cash over the previous few months.
Mr Riding said these books “indicated that the half a million pounds recovered from Mr Shacklady and Ms Melville’s house was, if not just the tip of an iceberg, only a small proportion of the monies generated by the activities of this organised crime group.”
When officers searched Shacklady’s white Peugeot Partner van, they found a “fairly sophisticated system” had been installed within the rear of the vehicle below the floorboards. This consisted of a hidden switch which revealed a secret compartment for stashing illicit goods.
Automatic number plate recognition cameras meanwhile captured the van “travelling all over the north of England”. This included trips to Huyton, Manchester, Grimsby, Derby, Nottingham and the Barnard Castle, Bishop Auckland and Darlington areas of County Durham.
Police then visited Germaine’s storage unit on Ringtail Road in Burscough on September 28 2021 and found 9kg of “high purity” cocaine. The 35-year-old, of Holt Drive in Ormskirk, previously received nine years and two months in relation to this seizure in May 2022 after being convicted of possession of the class A drug and cannabis with intent to supply and possession of criminal property.
Daniel Heeley was identified via surveillance undertaken as part of the operation. The 31-year-old – of Rylstone Drive in Heysham, Lancashire – was known as “Morc” in the gang’s ledgers – a reference to the Morecambe area where he was based and had a safehouse.
He was shown to have used three different phone numbers between May and September 2021, and was found to have been in contact with Shacklady, Causer and Germaine during 394 calls lasting a total of nearly six hours and 45 minutes. Heeley was said to have been “supplied class A drugs in wholesale, kilogram amounts” by his co-conspirators, with the same van having travelled to the seaside town on 14 occasions.
Under interview, Shacklady gave a prepared statement claiming “he had allowed a person who he wasn’t prepared to name to store items at his address, believing it was only money” and that he “had no idea there were drugs as well”. The 67-year-old also said that Melville “had no involvement in the matter”.
When Germaine was interviewed, he “began by saying ‘I knew this was coming'”. He stated that he had been in debt “to the tune of several thousands pounds to persons in Liverpool connected with someone whose jaw he had broken in a fight in a nightclub” and then “began making drug and cash runs” around May 2021, for which he was paid £150 a time and saw him travel as far afield as Portsmouth.
“Leading light” Causer, of Sherrat Street in Skelmersdale, meanwhile gave no comment to detectives. When interviewed, his mum said none of the seized cash was hers – other than £6,000 located within her handbag and £11,400 in another bag, which she described as being her “life savings”.
Healey told police he had “frequently changed his phone number because he and his wife had an on off relationship”, and she had been “jealous that he was seeing a girlfriend”. He added he had “previously used drugs including cocaine and ecstasy on a night out” but “denied any involvement in the supply of drugs”.
When shown pictures of co-defendants, he stated he did not recognise Shacklady, Melville or Germaine but identified Causer – who is also known as Alan Melville – as “Melv or Merv”, and said he had purchased an Audi A7 from him in June 2021 for £8,500 in cash. Heeley said he had originally met the 45-year-old at Catts Gym in Orrell, Wigan, which he “occasionally attended”.
Shacklady admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine, possession of criminal property and possession of cannabis. He was jailed for 10-and-a-half years. Germaine and Causer pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine and possession of criminal property. They received 11 years and eight months and 18 years respectively.
Heeley admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine. He was imprisoned for 15 years and three months. Melville pleaded guilty to possession of criminal property. She received a 23-month imprisonment suspended for 18 months, plus a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 15 days and a 12-month mental health treatment requirement.
