Drugs kingpin and crooks 'Del Boy' and 'one-legged mechanic' tried to fix trial

27 January 2023 , 15:03

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Leslie Allen outside Warwick Crown Court (Image: Paul Beard / SWNS.COM)

A drugs kingpin, a rogue juror and his mum and a one-legged mechanic have been jailed for attempting to fix a jury trial.

Leslie Allen, 66, Damien Drackley, 37, Mark Walker, 57, who was known as "Walker the one-legged mechanic", and Laurence "Del Boy" Hayden, 53, were found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Boxing promoter Allen recruited a team of stooges to help him get off charges of having £150,000 of cannabis and cocaine and pepper spray in 2018.

Allen, who was described as a "major drugs wholesaler with the means and motive to evade justice", promised juror Damien Drackley £5,000 to swing a trial at Warwick Crown Court in 2018, where he was a juror.

But fellow jurors became concerned when defence witness Laurence “Del Boy” Hayden was spotted nodding and winking at Drackley as he entered the court.

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Damien Drackley arriving at the Old Bailey, London, in December (PA)

They were even more suspicious when Drackley began “aggressively” arguing Allen’s innocence and saying nothing would change his mind.

They reported him to the judge who went on to convict Allen without the jury and jail him for 13 years.

The Old Bailey heard that despite strict rules about not discussing the case with friends and family, Drackley had given his mother Lorraine Frisby, 56, from Birmingham, “a running commentary” in calls he recorded on a phone app.

She had then brokered a trial-fixing deal with middleman Mark Walker, known as the “One-legged Mechanic”.

Mark Walker arriving at the Old Bailey in December (PA)

The weekend before the jury started deliberating, Frisby rang her son to say: “I just had that Mr Allen on the phone... said he would sort you out. It makes him feel a bit better knowing he’s got a face on the jury.”

Frisby had admitted the charge and soliciting the disclosure of jury deliberations.

Leader Allen was handed five years to run consecutively to his drugs sentence.

Today, Allen appeared at the Old Bailey by video link from prison while Frisby, Drackley and Walker attended court in person where they were all handed jail sentences by Mr Justice Cavanagh.

Drackley, described in court as "naive and foolish", was given four years for his part in the plot which "struck at the very heart of the criminal justice system".

Frisby, who was described as a "pivotal character", received two years and three months while Walker was given nine months for his more "minor role".

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Hayden failed to attend his trial and has since been arrested in Spain under an extradition warrant, the court was told.

Emily Pennink