08 October 2023 , 23:01
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A French bulldog has helped collar two would-be killers who plotted a revenge murder with a James Bond-style gun.
Frankie Sinclair, from Cardiff, arranged to buy a £3,000 Walther PPK handgun from "middleman" Paul Fontaine, of north London, to kill a gang rival. But the pair were unaware the encrypted phone network they used had been hacked by the National Crime Agency, in part of the UK’s biggest-ever organised crime probe.
And Sinclair sent an image of his dog, showing his living room in the background, which would help detectives prove it was him. They did not use their real identities and investigators later had to prove their code names, or handles, were them.
Paul Fontaine supplied guns (Met Police / SWNS)
Frankie Sinclair plotted a revenge murder (Met Police / SWNS)Sinclair's pet was at home when he was arrested. The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder at the Old Bailey in March last year and each jailed for 18 years.
Details of the dog clue are revealed for the first time today after the Metropolitan Police released an update on their probe into the secret phone network. Det Chief Insp Driss Hayoukane said: "We were able to identify the person, the picture was taken in his flat and we were able to recreate that picture that he took of his very cute French bulldog which was key to convicting him."
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Jurors at the Old Bailey heard how Fontaine had supplied a 9mm Makarov self-loading pistol used to murder Abdullahi Mahamoud in a bagel shop in Enfield, north London, on 19 March, 2020. Weeks later, he helped arrange to supply the new Walther PPK to Sinclair, a career criminal, to murder Keiron Hassan, and others in a rival group.
Fontaine, 36, from north London, and Sinclair, 34, were found guilty of conspiracy to murder and a string of other offences. In messages on EncroChat, Sinclair referred to the gun - made famous in the 007 film Dr No - as a "James Bond ting".
Latest figures show that 3,147 suspects have been arrested and 1,240 offenders convicted so far as part of Operation Venetic, the NCA-led investigation into the EncroChat phone network. More than nine tonnes of cocaine and heroin has been seized, while 173 firearms were taken off the streets.
A Walther PPK handgunKingpins and bent officers were among the suspects held as a result of encrypted messages being hacked. The EncroChat mobile phone network was infiltrated by French and Dutch police in 2020. It had 60,000 users, mostly believed to be criminals, with 10,000 in the UK.
More than 420 criminals have been jailed and three tones of illegal drugs seized as part of Operation Eternal, the Met-led Encrochat probe. Commander Paul Brogden, head of Specialist Crime, said it was the most complex investigation ever launched by the force into organised crime.
He said: "These were people that were previously unknown to us sometimes. So this opened up a whole new window of criminality and organised crime here in London. In their conversations, it was apparent that they were discussing plots to commit murder, import huge quantities of drugs, launder money or sell firearms, all of which will cause untold misery to our communities here in London.
"Some of these figures led lavish lifestyles, living in multi-million pound properties and driving top-of-the-range cars." Craig Turner, NCA Deputy Director of Investigations, said: "We are really proud to have led the operation in what was a watershed moment in the fight against serious and organised crime."