A drugs kingpin who ran a UK-wide operation has been jailed after police discovered his identity through encrypted messages he sent to his contacts about his famous father.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said Thomas Hooton used the messaging service EncroChat to deal drugs worth about ?1.3m and discuss his father Peter, the lead singer of indie stalwarts The Farm.

The 30-year-old, of Victoria Road West in Crosby, Merseyside, pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply heroin, cocaine, cannabis and ketamine at Liverpool Crown Court.

He was sentenced to 10 years and eight months in jail.

The NCA said Thomas Hooton was involved in the supply of 93lb (42.5kg) of cannabis, 7lb (3.25kg) of heroin, 22lb (10 kg) of cocaine and 2lb (1kg) of ketamine and brokered "high level deals".

A force representative said he had messaged 41 different contacts under the name Ownraptor on EncroChat, a messaging service that was infiltrated and taken down in 2020 by a European taskforce.

Detectives found he had a drug supply operation which ran to Scotland and England's North-East and South.

'Criminal reach'

Police said one of the key details to discovering Thomas' identity was a picture of his father with the Champions League trophy, which had been sent via EncroChat.

He also spoke in the messages about driving a black Audi A3, stating that his "arl fella'" arranged the insurance for him.

Official checks showed Peter Hooton, whose band had eight top 40 singles and a number one album in the 1990s, insured a car of that make and model for his son Thomas.

The encrypted chats also revealed Thomas was in possession of about ?400,000 and owed others ?258,000.

Speaking after sentencing, Det Ch Insp Lynsay Armbruster said it was clear Hooton was "involved in organised crime for a long time before he was charged".

"His criminal and geographical reach will have taken considerable time to establish," she said.

"His drug supply operations were on an almost daily basis, they were sustained and spanned the UK working with high-level criminals." (BBC)

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