A notorious gangland figure who amassed nearly £500,000 from his criminal exploits has been ordered to pay back a mere £1. Paul "Woody" Woodford, a key lieutenant of Vincent Coggins, the head honcho of Merseyside's Huyton Firm, has been slapped with a 24-and-a-half-year prison sentence for his involvement in obtaining a firearm as part of an extortion scheme aimed at retrieving a hijacked cocaine shipment.

With a rap sheet stretching back three decades, Woodford's litany of barbaric acts includes the scalping of a woman with a machete and the brutal torture of a man using a hot iron, machetes, and knives, as reported by the Liverpool Echo. His criminal career saw him ascend to European operations on behalf of Coggins, only to be nabbed in Amsterdam amidst an armed gang. Woodford faced murder charges for the death of 31 year old pilot Jason Osu but dramatically slashed his own throat during the trial and remained silent when called to testify, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Despite the dramatics, he was acquitted of the murder after a gruelling seven-week trial and five days of jury deliberation. Now 59 and formerly residing on Marl Road in Aintree, Woodford had taken to the alias "Kingwasp" on EncroChat, orchestrating the movement of heroin and cocaine consignments for Coggins' network. The Manchester Crown Court hosted a proceeds of crime hearing on Thursday, April 24, where Woodford, along with Coggins and their associate Michael Earle, were brought to account.

During a brief court session, prosecutor Alex Leach KC declared that the seasoned criminal stakeholder, Woodford, accrued a staggering £499,960.50 from his illicit undertakings. Yet, in a striking turn of events, Woodford's lawyer, Sebastian Winnett, revealed to the court that his client could muster only £1 for repayment. Subsequently, Judge John Potter concluded: "The available figure is a nominal sum given his circumstances. I come to the view a confiscation order of £1 should be made. There is no time to pay."

Sarah Vine KC, representing Coggins, apprised the judge that a deferment for her client's proceeds of crime hearing was in order, pending an expert's analysis to validate the crown's assessment of the narcotic quantities he ferried. Judge Potter scheduled Coggins and Earle – the latter defended by Tara Riley – for a heated legal contest over the crime profits on September 12. Dubbed the Huyton Firm, Coggins' syndicate orchestrated extensive cocaine and heroin distribution networks throughout Britain.

Coggins, known notoriously as "the gaffa" and "headmaster", alongside his brother Francis, elevated their rank-and-file drug operation to a formidable cartel. This underground empire stood toe-to-toe with notorious rings from Ireland, Eastern Europe, and South America.

Originating from Stockbridge Village, the gang, under Coggins' command, trafficked vast narcotics hauls through Liverpool's docks, dispersing them from Plymouth up to Scotland. The gang is believed to have had port workers monitoring containers and a corrupt police officer, known as "Piggy", on its payroll to help evade detection. The duo tried to avoid conflicts where possible, but they also built a formidable reputation and led a feared group of criminals, including the murderer of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, Thomas Cashman.

They were not hesitant to order brutal violence against anyone who threatened their interests. At some point, the gang started using encrypted EncroChat phones for their operations. However, this would eventually lead to their downfall when the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU) accessed their messages after European law enforcement hacked the platform in early 2020. On the morning of Saturday, May 23, 2020, a violent armed robbery took place at a house on Croxdale Road West, West Derby.

The targeted attack, carried out by rival gangsters who knew about the drug stash there, resulted in the homeowner and his son being severely assaulted and £1m worth of cocaine stolen. Coggins, along with his associates including Woodford, Earle and Edward Jarvis, began planning to find those responsible and retrieve the drugs. However, their messages were intercepted by detectives, who intervened when the conversations revealed plans to not only recover the drugs but also murder those suspected of carrying out the raid.

Chilling messages between "Kingwasp" and Coggins, known online as "Moonlitboat" have shed light on their plot to commit robbery. In the exchange, Coggins chillingly wrote: "Heads gone. I've got the c**t bang to rights. Give *** chance today to give back, f**k the doe m going to kill him an his firm."

The ominous conversation escalated when Woodford inquired if Coggins needed him to procure a firearm, which he referred to as a "belter" Unfazed, Coggins replied with: "M8 just bought load more, we cool for tools." The pair, along with other associates, were apprehended in June 2020. Due to reporting restrictions, The Echo could not reveal the proceedings’ outcomes until Jarvis's conviction of blackmail and drug-related crimes in mid-2024. Coggins, aged 59 and recently of Woodpecker Close in West Derby, faced a hefty sentence of 28 years behind bars, while combined, the gang received sentences totalling over 155 years.

Detective Chief Inspector Dave Worthington of the NWROCU’s operational team commented on the gang’s capture: "These were extremely dangerous men, and had we not come across the serious threats of violence from the Coggins OCG through Operation Venetic – this could have been a very different outcome."

Emphasising the downfall of the crime group, he stated: "It's clear that the Coggins OCG thought they were untouchable, and their messages untraceable, but with support from the NCA and Merseyside Police, we were able to bring this criminal enterprise to its knees and prove them wrong. This crime group made substantial amounts of money through their ill-gotten gains.

"The cash they made was moved and transferred via various means to launder it, which subsequently funded their lavish lifestyles. The sentences this crime group received shows that crime doesn't pay, and that we will stop at nothing to put those intent on flooding our streets with drugs and violence behind bars."