Redcar man who repaired weapons for drugs gang jailed

Christian Proud repaired weapons for the Redcar-based gang who boasted of bringing more than £1m worth of drugs into the region.

And when police raided his home, they also recovered 19 live rounds of ammunition, which could have been fired out of an AK 47-style weapon, stashed inside a bag of rice, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Anthony Pettengell, prosecuting, said a number of firearms were recovered from the garden of Charles Dodkins when police recovered more than £12,000 worth of drugs and a significant amount of cash.

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Lee Moore and Daniel Snowdon were also arrested at the property on Staithes Road, Redcar, and police recovered mobile phone messages which linked the gang to the defendant through Moore, the court heard.

Mr Pettengell added: “Proud was fixing firearms, repairing them and getting them in working order for the Redcar gang.”

The judge heard how the defendant was not involved in the drug dealing activities of the gang and it was accepted that he was not aware of the full extent of their illicit empire.

Christian Proud (Image: Cleveland Police)

Proud, of Hundale Crescent, Redcar, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to cause fear of violence between July 2018 and August 2021, on the day his trial was due to take place.

The 35-year-old had already pleaded guilty to possession of ammunition without a firearms certificate at an earlier hearing after his house was raided on April 12, 2022.

The weapons and ammunition seized from the drugs gang (Image: Cleveland Police)

Lee Fish, mitigating, said Proud had paid a hefty price for his involvement with the drugs gang as it cost him his liberty and his marriage.

He said: “He is an intelligent and articulate man and it is difficult to understand how he got himself involved with serious criminals.

“The defendant himself wonders whether this suggests that he is too willing to help people when he should not have become involved.”

Judge Chris Smith sentenced the builder to a total of four years for the weapons charges.

“Your role was fixing these firearms that required repair whether that was to make them more realistic or making them capable of being discharged,” he said.

The four men behind the £1m cocaine and cannabis empire. Left to right Charles Dodkins; Lee Moore; Daniel Snowdon; William Brown. With some of the recovered cash, weapons and ammunition. (Image: Newsquest)

In May, the four leading members of the drugs gang were all locked up for their role in the illicit enterprise.

Moore, Dodkins, and Snowdon were operating out of the Redcar area with the support of William Brown who was making the connections in Glasgow and Manchester.

Officers found a de-commissioned handgun, a replica Colt, two self-loading semi-automatic weapons and a silencer hidden inside a bag with some ammunition. Mr Pettengell conceded that none of the ammunition was for any of the weapons seized and there was no evidence they had been used by the gang.

Judge Smith locked gang for a total of almost 65 years for their ‘industrial level’ drugs enterprise.

At the time, he said: “The police raised your home address, Charles Dodkins, and you Lee Moore and Daniel Snowdon were also there, they found cocaine worth £12,000 and a large sum of cash.

“A Rolex watch was seized from the house and a notebook found stashed in a beanbag was found to contain a list of names and numbers consistent with the largescale supply of cocaine and cannabis.

“The scale of the enterprise was supported by messages recovered from mobile telephones. A long-running text conversation between Lee Moore and William Brown referenced kilogramme deals in cocaine.”

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Dodkins, 29, of now of Barsby Green, Middlesbrough, was jailed for a total of 14 years and six months.

While 48-year-old Moore, of Queensbury Close, Redcar, was locked up for 14 years and four months.

Co-accused, 42-year-old Snowdon, of Westfield Way, Redcar, was jailed for 14 years, and 31-year-old Brown, of Langside Road, Glasgow, was sentenced to a total of 21 years and four months after being found guilty of the most serious offences.

The gang were sentenced after either pleading guilty or being found guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs – cocaine; conspiracy to supply Class B drugs – cannabis; conspiracy to possess weapons with intent to cause fear or alarm; possession of prohibited weapons and ammunition; and possession of criminal property.