A family-run crime gang, headed by a 65-year-old “gangster granny”, has been jailed for dealing drugs with a street value of £80m across the UK.
Deborah Mason, dubbed “Queen Bee”, and seven other members of the gang, were sentenced to over 100 years in prison at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday for their involvement in supplying nearly a tonne of cocaine over seven months.
Judge Philip Shorrock said Deborah Mason had “courrupted” her family, rather than setting an example to her children.
A group of couriers collected packages of imported cocaine and drove them all over London, as well as Bradford, Leicester, Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff, between April and November 2023.
The drugs had an estimated wholesale value of between £23m to £35m and a street value of £80m.
The ringleader spent her profits on designer goods and was looking to go to Turkey to have cosmetic surgery, while young mothers who were part of the gang took their young children to pick-ups.
Deborah Mason, dubbed “gangster granny” by the Metropolitan Police, who directed other members of the gang and was in contact with an upstream supplier called Bugsy, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Judge Shorrock told Mason: “You recruited members of your own family – as a mother you should have been setting an example for your children and not corrupting them.”
The judge noted that several of the women have young children but said their involvement in the drug network only “makes it easier for unscrupulous” dealers to seek to recruit mothers.
Throughout the trial, the court heard Deborah Mason played a “leading role” and took part in 20 trips, delivering 356kg of cocaine, and also made trips to deliver and collect cash.
She was in “close contact” with the upstream supplier using an encrypted app, which had auto-deletion of messages set up, “designed to keep the operation secret and messages deleted”.
The court heard she was in receipt of in excess of £50,000 per year in benefit income during the conspiracy period, while acting as ringleader and spending lavishly on luxuries.
When Deborah Mason was on holiday in Dubai, her daughter Roeseanne Mason, who made seven trips delivering about 166kg of cocaine, stepped into the directing role, the court heard.
The prosecution said Roeseanne Mason collected cash for her mother and also “provided childcare so that others could work”.
Mother-of-two Demi Bright made a single trip in August 2023 which involved 60kg of cocaine.
She took her children with her on the two-day trip, which involved an overnight stay in a hotel.
She agreed to deliver more drugs in November 2023 but dropped out.
It appears she stepped back from the drug plot after her sister Roeseanne Mason was arrested, “saying she wanted to go straight but she continued to help her mother in the organisation and was aware of its scale”, the court heard.
Lillie Bright was involved in 20 trips involving 195kg of cocaine, she would often travel with her young son in the car while transporting the drugs.
Her partner Chloe Hodgkin, 23, of Abbots Walk, Wye, Kent, is awaiting the birth of her baby and is to be sentenced at a date to be set.
Reggie Bright’s 12 trips as part of the gang delivered at least 90kg and there were times he collected wages for the group.
He usually took trips with his partner, Demi Kendall, 31, telling her “not to get the hump because we need the money”, the court heard.
He had been a cocaine user and an addict since his teens and had a brain injury as a result of his misuse.
Demi Kendall carried out 15 trips involving 98kg of cocaine, and “often” took her toddler with her in a car.
She also recruited her friend, and later, talking about the plot, told her “you’d get years if u got stopped with the amount that we carry – serious jail time”.
Tina Golding made four trips and delivered at least 75kg of cocaine. She collected at least £10,000 in wages.
Anita Slaughter took part in a single trip, which amounted to 55kg across four drops, in October 2023.
George Payne, defending for Deborah Mason, claimed his client was not the top director of the gang’s actions.
In his mitigation argument, he said: “It is precisely because she does not look like someone who is involved in drug dealing that she was chosen to be part of the plot.”
He added: “I submit that all of these individuals are expendable, without experience and without a lot of knowledge.”
Roseanne Mason, 29, of Canonbury, north London, and Demi Bright, 30, of Ashford, Kent, were each sentenced to 11 years imprisonment.
Lillie Bright, 26, of Ashford, Kent, was sentenced to 13 years, and Demi Kendall, 31, of Staplehurst, Kent, was sentenced to 13 years and six months imprisonment.
Reggie Bright, 24, of Staplehurst, Kent, was sentenced to 15 years, and Tina Golding, 66, of Ashford, Kent, was jailed for ten years.
Anita Slaughter, 44, of Ashford, Kent, was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment.
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