A pub landlord from Essex is among three people to have been jailed in the midst of a widespread conspiracy to supply drugs. Simon Renoldi, 53, had control of the Railway Tavern in Stanford-le-Hope before he was sent to prison for more than two decades behind bars.
Renoldi and two others – Iain Green and Matthew Hutchinson – were identified after encrypted messages were infiltrated by officers. Law enforcers discovered messages showing Renoldi was involving in supplying kilos of cocaine with several people including Green and Hutchinson, and that Renoldi and Green were involved in the supply of MDMA and discussed supplying cannabis.
Officers also discovered messages indicating Hutchinson was involved in shipping cocaine and ketamine to New Zealand and Australia and, at one point, he and Renoldi discussed joining up to supply more cocaine to Australia. All three openly discussed moving large sums of money around to pay for the drugs.
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This information led to surveillance being carried out which captured Renoldi and Green meeting to exchange more than £140,000 in cash. Further messages between the three men also discuss debts of tens of thousands of pounds that both Green and Hutchinson owed Renoldi.
Further messages discussing the sale of drugs led to a warrant at an address in Basildon being executed where £705,000 in cash and 5kg of cocaine were seized, as well as an Encrochat device. During the search of the address a notebook with handwritten notes and a piece of paper with notes on were recovered.
These included postcodes and figures next to them, and some of the postcodes were for the Railway Tavern in Stanford-le-Hope, which Renoldi had control of. Carrier bags containing cash were forensically examined and a fingerprint belonging to Renoldi was identified on one bag which contained more than £100,000.
(Image: Essex Police)
Renoldi, 53, of High Road in Fobbing, had a prominent role in the gang and was arrested at his home on June 14 during a warrant where more than £5,000 in cash was found along with the Encro device linked to ‘Typicalknee’. A search of the Railway Tavern, which he ran, located a further £68,950 in cash and Essex Police later confirmed his role as pub landlord.
Hutchinson, 55, of Talbrook in Brentwood, was arrested at his home the following day while Green, 54, of Ronald Park Drive in Westcliff, was arrested the following month. Renoldi was charged with two counts conspiracy to commit cocaine, conspiracy to supply ecstasy and two counts of conspiracy to supply a Class B drug.
Hutchinson was charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to supply a Class B drug (ketamine). Green was charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply ecstasy, and conspiracy to supply a Class B drug (cannabis).
The trio denied the charges against them but were convicted on November 5 after a trial at Basildon Crown Court. They appeared for sentence at the same court on Friday (January 10) where Renoldi was sentenced to 21 years’ imprisonment while Hutchinson and Green were jailed for 13 years and 17 years respectively.
Detective Inspector Yoni Adler, from our Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said: “These prison sentences are a fair reflection of the months of careful surveillance and evidence gathering led by our team. Simon Renoldi, Iain Green, and Matthew Hutchinson were involved in the large-scale supply of drugs and the exchange of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of pounds.
“This was a lengthy investigation and trial process, but we built a solid case and a jury rightly saw through their lies. We work every day to tackle those involved in organised criminal activities and our message is clear – if you think you can commit crime in Essex and get away with it, you’re wrong and we’ll put you behind bars.”