Drug trafficker battered dog walker tied him up in back of van

His latest crimes were exposed by a bag of Walkers Sensations crisps

A high-level drug trafficker who boasted of “banana boat” smuggling routes and million-pound profits has been jailed for 13 years, the Liverpool Echo reports.

James Hitchmough, who operated under the EncroChat handle “Brutal Whale”, was brought to justice after detectives matched his fingerprints to an image he shared of himself holding a bag of Walkers Sensations crisps.

Hitchmough, of Kingsway in Huyton, had been a wanted man since 2020, fleeing to a bolthole in Dubai to avoid the fallout from the French police infiltration of the EncroChat network. However, the 35-year-old returned to the UK last October to “face the music”, telling the court through his lawyer that he “simply could not carry on any longer” as a fugitive.

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Liverpool Crown Court heard that Hitchmough ran a sophisticated criminal business that operated every single day across Merseyside.

Using the handles “Brutal Whale” and “Roll Play”, he orchestrated the supply of massive quantities of Class A and B drugs – including 64.5kg of cocaine, 37.5kg of heroin and 33kg of cannabis.

Prosecutors revealed that Hitchmough acted as a wholesaler, frequently purchasing 5kg blocks of cocaine for over £38,000 per kilogram. He was so established that he offered “deals of the day” to customers and invested over £2.4 million in dirty cash into properties abroad and luxury items.

The sentencing also brought to light Hitchmough’s history of extreme violence. In 2013, he was sentenced to nine years for a sickening assault on a 44-year-old dog walker in Bootle.

During that incident, Hitchmough and an accomplice waited in a white van before ambushing the victim and battering him with a hammer, rendering him unconscious. The victim, who suffered a fractured skull, was found bound and bleeding in the back of the vehicle.

Judge Garrett Byrne noted that this history showed a man “deeply entrenched” in a criminal lifestyle.

Despite his attempts to hide behind encrypted technology, Hitchmough left a digital trail that proved his undoing.

Merseyside Police identified him through several key errors which included other EncroChat users referring to him as “Jim” and “Jimmy” in messages and a series of images from a fishing trip Hitchmough had paid for which included a picture of his specific lakeside pitch.

The most definitive evidence, however, came from a photo he sent of himself holding a bag of crisps, which allowed forensic experts to map and match his fingerprints.

Hitchmough admitted conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine, and cannabis, as well as transferring criminal property.

Jailing him for 13 years, Judge Byrne remarked: “On any view, this was an established, large scale, highly active and sophisticated operation… Those who engage in this sort of conduct must expect to receive lengthy periods of imprisonment.”

Merseyside Police have now confirmed they will pursue a Proceeds of Crime Act application to seize Hitchmough’s international assets and ill-gotten gains.