British ‘gangster granny’, 65, jailed for 20 years for running £80 million drug empire
A so-called 'gangster granny' who headed up her family's £80million drug empire has been sentenced to 20 years behind bars.
Deborah Mason - who was dubbed 'Queen Bee' and 'Gangsta Debbs' by her relatives - was jailed alongside seven other members of her brood at London's Woolwich Crown Court on Friday (18 July).
The 65-year-old's family collected packages of imported cocaine and ferried them all over London, as well as across Bradford, Leicester, Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff, between April and November 2023.
During these seven months, the family-run crime gang transported nearly a tonne of the Class A drug, which police say had an estimated street value of £80 million.
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Mason and her relatives were sentenced to a total of 106.5 years by Judge Philip Shorrock for their involvement in the drug ring yesterday.
The court heard how the gran instructed other members of the family to drive packages of cocaine to various locations across the UK, while being in 'close contact' with an upstream supplier known as Bugsy.
Mason, who was nicknamed 'gangster granny' by the Metropolitan Police, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
"You were effectively the site foreman working under the direction of a site manager," Judge Shorrock told her as he handed down the jail term. "You recruited members of your own family - as a mother, you should have been setting an example for your children and not corrupting them."
Mason spent her hefty profits on designer goods - such as a Gucci leash and collar for her pet cat - and was looking into heading over to Turkey to undergo cosmetic surgery.
She played a 'leading role' and was at the 'top of the organisation' while providing 'cocaine for the upstream supplier known as Bugsy', who she contacted via an encrypted messaging app, prosecutors said.
This mode of contact was 'designed to keep the operation secret and messages deleted', while it emerged that Mason had taken part in 20 trips, delivering 356kg of cocaine, and also made trips to deliver and collect cash.
Prosecutor Charlotte Hole previously explained the grandmother had 'recruited both her family members - her sister and her children - as well as partners and friends of her children, to a network of at least 10 individuals'.
The judge noted that several of the women involved have young kids - who they occasionally took on the drug runs with them, while prosecutors said Mason's family members were 'motivated by financial benefit' rather than being pressured or coerced into joining the family business.
"Everyone involved had an expectation of significant financial advantage, at least £1,000 per trip, and it is one of the most significant parts of the motivation of the conspiracy," Mrs Hole told the court. "They all had an awareness of the scale of the operation."
While running the operation, the matriach was also receiving in excess of £50,000 per year in benefit income during the conspiracy period.
She organised drivers to make the trips, while constantly keeping tabs on their progress by checking in with them throughout the day and up until the early hours.
When Mason holidayed in Dubai, her daughter Roeseanne stepped into the role as ringleader, the court heard.
Roeseanne made seven trips delivering about 166kg of cocaine, collected cash for her mother and also 'provided childcare so that others could work', prosecutors said,
The 29-year-old was locked up for 11 years for her role in the plot, alongside her sister Demi Bright, who made a single trip in August 2023 which involved 60kg of cocaine.
The mother-of-two took her children with her on the two-day trip, which involved an overnight stay in a hotel, and had agreed to deliver more drugs in November 2023 but later dropped out.
'Most significantly', according to police, she recruited Anita Slaughter, 44, to the gang and offered her work on a daily basis, although she only made a single trip transporting 55kg of cocaine across four drops in October 2023.
Slaughter was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment.
Lillie Bright was involved in 20 trips involving 195kg of cocaine and was sentenced to 13 years and six months imprisonment, while her partner Chloe Hodgkin, 23, was also involved in the drugs ring.
Hodgkin - who is currently awaiting the birth of her baby and is to be sentenced at a date to be set.
Reggie Bright, 24, made 12 trips as part of the gang, delivering at least 90kg and sometimes he also collected wages for the group, seeing him get slapped with a 15 year sentence.
His partner Demi Kendall, 31, carried out 15 trips involving 98kg of cocaine and 'often' took her toddler with her in a car, before recruiting one of her pals and telling her: "You’d get years if u got stopped with the amount that we carry - serious jail time."
She was locked up for 13 years and six months, while Tina Golding, 66, - who made four trips, delivered at least 75kg of cocaine and collected at least £10,000 in wages - was jailed for 10 years.
"All of the offenders participated in a conspiracy which involved the nationwide supply of around a metric tonne of cocaine, collected usually from areas near ports such as Harwich, and delivered across the country to Bristol, Cardiff, Sheffield, Bradford and so on," Mrs Hole said previously.
George Payne, defending for Deborah Mason, claimed his client was not the top director of the gang’s actions, telling the court: "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. I submit that all of these individuals are expendable, without experience and without a lot of knowledge."
Crown Prosecution Service specialist prosecutor Robert Hutchinson described Mason and her relatives as 'no ordinary family', explaining they had 'established an extraordinarily profitable criminal enterprise that would ultimately put them all behind bars'.
Olivia Burke