A FUGITIVE “gangster mother” has been caught after 16 months on the run over a secret cocaine gang operating at her countryside farm.
Farmer’s wife Lynne Leyson, 52, led a hidden double-life as the “godmother” of a crime gang – with her respectable front of being a normal rural mum on the family farm.
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Farmer’s wife Lynne Leyson, 52, led a hidden double-life as the ‘godmother’ of a crime gangCredit: WNS
But she fled before being jailed for nine years – and her “Most Wanted” mugshot has been issued to all UK police forces along with a false name she maying be using.
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A £1,000 bounty was offered after she was on the run for more than a year believed to go under a string of aliases after skipping bail.
But police today revealed she was arrested to be put behind bars after being spotted in the farm in quiet Capel Dewi, Carmarthenshire, where she based her crime ring.
Police said Leyson was arrested at Pibwr Farm on Monday having returned to the force area on Sunday evening.
Detective said she had been “travelling extensively across the UK during her 16 months on the run.”
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Detective Chief Inspector Rhys Jones, who led the search, said it sent a “strong message” to organised crime gangs.
He said: “The arrest shows our determination to find those who think they can evade justice.
“I would like to thank officers for their commitment, dedication, support, and persistence in bringing this element of the investigation to a successful conclusion”.
““I would like to thank members of the public for their assistance and information provided over the last 16 months – which has been greatly appreciated”.
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“This will send a strong message that the activities of those individuals linked to Organised Crime Groups operating within the area of Dyfed Powys will not be tolerated, and that they will be brought to justice”.
Crimestoppers offered a wanted reward of up to £1,000. She has also been added to their “Most Wanted” section of British fugitives.
Neighbours thought she was a respectable country mum – but she was the godmother of family crime gang supplying multi-kilo quantities of cocaine and cannabis to dealers from the isolated smallholding.
Her husband Stephen Leyson and his son Samson were jailed for a total of 17 years in July after the farm was raided by police.
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But Lynne Leyson vanished before she was due in court to face justice – and was sentenced by her judge in her absence.
A judge said the mother was a “dominant force” who played a “leading role” in the drugs enterprise.
The court heard officers targeted Pibwr Farm, near Capel Dewi, Carmarthenshire, in the early hours of October 27, 2021.
They recovered over £60,000 of cocaine, £15,615 of cannabis, a 9mm semi-automatic handgun and cash – which they claimed was from a “house sale.”
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In a Proceeds of Crime hearing, Ieuan Rees, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court both Stephen and Lynne Leyson benefited from their criminal lifestyle to the tune of £77,967.
Investigators have identified available assets in respect of Stephen in the sum of £33,147 and in respect of Lynne in the sum of £26,442.
Samson Leyson benefited from his involvement to the tune of £69,795 and investigators have identified assets – including a TAG Heuer Formula 1 watch – worth £9,550.
Judge Catherine Richards made confiscation orders in the available sums for the three Leysons, and gave them three months to pay or face additional jail time.
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The judge said she was “quite sure” Lynne Leyson would be arrested and brought before a court “at some point”.
Lynne Leyson was found guilty by a jury of conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply cannabis, and possessing criminal property.
She was jailed for nine years in her absence.
After the case, one near-neighbour (Sian Leyshon but she asked not to be named) said: “We just couldn’t believe it.
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“They seemed like a normal farming family, well a bit rough around the edges like a lot of country people. Lynne seemed very normal really – not a cocaine dealer like she was. It is all very odd.”
She was believed to be using the false name of Annelyn Caldicot.
Leyson appeared at Swansea Crown Court this morning, Tuesday 17th September where she was committed to prison to start her sentence.
She will next appear at Swansea Crown Court on Friday, 4th October.
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A 26-year-old female was also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender and has been released on police bail pending further police enquiries.
Electric-vehicle makers boosted Hong Kong stocks on Friday, as major indices rose across the board in the wake of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut.
The Hang Seng index rose 1.8 per cent, with Chinese EV companies Xpeng and Geely Auto adding 9 per cent and 4.8 per cent, respectively.
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On Thursday, the S&P 500 gained 1.7 per cent, hitting a new record after the Fed’s half-point rate cut announcement on Wednesday.
A picture of Scarlett Johansson features on the front of Daily Telegraph as she attends the London premiere of film Transformers One which she stars in. The paper leads on Sir Keir Starmer denying he has lost control of Downing Street “despite civil war breaking out at the centre of his government”. It adds tensions in No 10 and questions over chief of staff Sue Gray’s £170,000 salary threaten to overshadow the Labour Party conference.
A funeral in Lebanon is the main picture on the front of the i newspaper. It reports the Middle East is “steps closer to regional war” as Israel bombs southern Lebanon. Armed group Hezbollah was targeted with pager and walkie-talkie attacks. Elsewhere, it says there is a frantic hunt for the mole who leaked Sue Gray’s salary to the BBC.
The Guardian leads with Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah threatening Israel with “tough retribution and just punishment” in a speech on Thursday. He also threatened to strike Israel “where it expects and where it does not”. Hot To Go! singer Chappel Roan also features on the page, telling the paper: “My whole life has changed”.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been provided with a £10bn budget boost by the Bank of England which is increasing pressure on her to ease spending cuts and tax rises, the Times writes. The paper says Labour MPs are calling for the cash to be used to delay scrapping some pensioners’ winter fuel payments.
“Al Fayed ‘a serial rapist’” headlines the Metro as it reports on the BBC investigation into late billionaire and Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed. The papers reports the BBC’s investigation found more than 20 female ex-employees say Mr Al Fayed sexually assaulted or raped them. The Metro writes the tycoon who was “portrayed as the gregarious father” of Diana’s lover Dodi in Netflix’s The Crown “was a monster”.
“Shop of horrors” headlines the Mirror as it picks up the BBC’s story on Mr Al Fayed. The Mirror says at least 100 women are feared to have been sexually abused by the tycoon. It quotes Gemma, his former personal assistant. Speaking to the BBC about Mr Al Fayed, who she accuses of raping her, she said: “He felt like such a powerful man with so much money.”
The Daily Express pictures RAF veteran Jack Barlow who says he survived atomic bomb tests but now asks if he will survive the winter due to his winter fuel payment being “snatched away”.
The Financial Times says consumer confidence in the UK fell sharply in September, wiping out progress made so far this year. The paper observes it comes despite consumers benefiting from cheaper loans, rising real wages and a decrease in inflation. Elsewhere, it pictures people in Lebanon watching the leader of Hezbollah give a speech in which he vowed revenge on Israel.
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The Sun reports Snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan has split from fiancee actress Laila Rouass.
The Daily Star asks “what planet are they on?” It says minister defends “cadger PM’s £100k of freebies” as some pensioners lose the winter fuel payment.
Last week JPMorgan made headlines by announcing it planned to cap its junior bankers’ working week to 80 hours (“High pressure, long days, crushing workloads: why is investment banking like this?”, FT Alphaville, FT.com, September 13).
The media and most western professionals and other workers will see that figure as extraordinarily high — but the small print makes clear that the cap will not apply when junior bankers are working on “live” deals.
The 80-hour working week, it seems, is the routine baseline expectation.
Former investment banker Craig Coben, author of the FT Alphaville piece, outlined the history and factors that make the long-hours culture a seemingly intractable fact of life across the investment banking industry — and other related sectors such as Big Law.
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As investment banking is a bespoke service the work cannot fit into a standard nine-to-five schedule. The question is: does this bespoke service require regular “all-nighters”?
Is this really the most efficient approach? Research shows that working long hours does not improve productivity. Studies document diminishing returns after a certain threshold — typically around 50 hours per week.
Coben also pointed to the mega-salaries junior bankers earn. In the end, there is no such thing as a free lunch in life.
They know what they are getting themselves into. The reality may not be as glamorous as it seems. Assuming an entry salary of £90,000, as indicated in the article, an 80-hour working week for 47 weeks a year — admittedly a very basic calculation — junior bankers would earn a higher hourly rate by doing private tutoring!
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Yes, this is partly down to the nature of the business but it is also a self-perpetuating culture that is blocking efforts to at least mitigate its worst excesses.
Addressing this could, in fact, positively impact productivity as well.
Sonia Falconieri Professor in Corporate Finance, Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), London EC1, UK
“We asked for a thorough investigation,” says Olivia.
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“That’s definitely what they’ve done as it’s been a while now.
“I hope the FA do the right thing.
“It’s important we don’t skim over what happened.”
Regardless of the outcome, the 25-year-old says there’s no way things can stay the same in women’s football.
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“I’d like to think that after what’s happened to my sister, there’s no way there can’t be any change.
“Maddy ultimately lost her life and her spirit to football and it’s important that nobody else goes through that.”
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Before signing with Sheffield United, Maddy previously played for Birmingham, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest
Maddy’s family has launched a foundation in her name to support women and girls in football and hopes to be a voice for them too.
“You can’t bury your head in the sand,” says Olivia.
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“You need to stand up for these girls and stand up for Maddy ultimately as well.
“We just really wanted to find what was missing and give these girls a voice.”
They recently hit a £50,000 milestone, something Olivia says she “never even dreamed of”.
“It made me really proud,” she says.
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“I thought, we could really change the game here and change young girls’ lives.”
‘I’m going to be like Maddy’
Some of the money raised goes towards supporting girls like eight-year-old Neveah, who idolised Maddy.
Neveah’s mum, Beth, tells Newsbeat the love started when she was assigned the same number football shirt.
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“She’d see Maddy play and say, ‘Mum that’s me – I’m number eight, I’m going to be like Maddy’.”
Last year, Neveah was a mascot for Sheffield United and chose to walk out with Maddy, which Beth says helped to “grow her love of football”.
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Neveah would always wear Maddy’s Sheffield United shirt under her kit, her mum Beth says
When Maddy died, Beth says Neveah “took it really hard” and, in December, the foundation offered to pay for her to have new boots – something the family had done for Maddy every Christmas.
Since then it has also sponsored her kit.
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“She was very touched by that,” Beth says.
“We always get in touch with the family because she likes to tell them how many goals she’s scored for Maddy.”
Although Neveah is sometimes the only girl on the pitch, she is generally supported and encouraged in the sport, says Beth.
But she knows that might not always be the case, and that is why the work of the foundation is so important.
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“[Girls] need to know that support is available for them,” she says.
“I just hope Neveah’s journey through football, however long it is, continues to be positive.”
Olivia says her sister was “loved and adored and an inspiration to so many”.
“My main focus with the foundation is to carry that on for as long as I can and to bring her to life for as long as I can as well.”
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There will be a vigil for Maddy later and she will also be remembered at a match between Sheffield United and Derby County – the club Maddy supported – on Saturday.
“She would’ve been there for sure,” Olivia says of her big sister. “With a beaming smile.”
A spokesperson for Sheffield United told Newsbeat they were pleased to mark the anniversary with the match.
“The thoughts of everyone associated with Sheffield United Football Club remain with the Cusack family, as well as Maddy’s friends, colleagues and team-mates,” they added.
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The FA said it would not be appropriate to comment while it was still investigating.
If you’ve been affected by the issues raised in this article, help and support is available via BBC Action Line.
Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays – or listen back here.
No publication has bettered the FT for the coverage of Boeing’s downward and tragic flight path resulting from putting financial engineering (sic) before real engineering. Rereading John Gapper’s piece about the revival of Rolls-Royce’s fortunes (Opinion, September 13) I was surprised to see no words of caution about the possible consequences of too much “squeezing” of a product that must work perfectly throughout its life, and no warning on the potential for a Boeing outcome.
For me, I am always reassured when I look out from a window seat to see the classic black and silver RR logo on the engine housing. Long may this continue.
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