A cocaine dealing ring of British soldiers sold almost £100,000 of drugs to colleagues and splashed the profits on a Rolex watch and Christian Louboutin shoes, a court martial heard.
The ‘network’ of four Riflemen dealt one kilo of the Class A drug at up to £100 a gram to other servicemen at an Army barracks over a three year period, a panel was told.
One, who bragged about cutting the cocaine with caffeine, was shunned by the group’s ringleader after showing off their profits by bagging luxury designer items.
Another ran a ‘double bubble’ payday loan scheme to colleagues which the court heard contributed to the suicide of a young rifleman, 20-year-old Nathan Worner.
Bulford Military Court heard Rifleman Claudius Scott orchestrated the operation which saw the cocaine brought from west London into the army base.
Ex-Rifleman Claudius Scott (Pictured outside of Bulford Military Court) was the ringleader of a quartet of British soldiers who dealt thousands in cocaine to colleagues
Rifleman Ryan Saedi (Pictured) was Scott’s second-in-command and ran the operation during the week. He had also ‘helped source’ larger quantities of cocaine during COVID
Rfn Scott was dealing cocaine to fellow military personnel and had four other members of the 5 Rifles Battalion deal on his behalf.
He is believed to have played a part in up to 671 grams of the total cocaine sold.
Second-in-command was Rifleman Ryan Saedi, worked with fellow ‘trusted dealers’ Lance Corporal Bradley Hesketh, 27, and Rifleman Ashleigh Walker.
The group of cocaine drug dealers would flog a gram of cocaine for £90 each, pocketing £10 for themselves from each sale, the court heard.
Rfn Saedi was said to have been a ‘major part’ in the operation, and was said to be in charge during the week.
He had also ‘helped source’ larger quantities of cocaine after the COVID lockdown ‘impacted’ its availability in March 2020.
Rfn Scott and Rfn Saedi, who are both 31, earned more than £40,000 each from their crimes
Saedi was estimated to have been involved in the supply of 100g of cocaine, while Rfn Walker, 29, and LCpl were anticipated to have been involved in 160g worth of sales.
The quartet – who were all part of 5 Rifles Battalion – have all admitted conspiracy to supply drugs.
Prosecutor Will Martin told the court the ‘network’ of drug dealing took place during a near-three year period between January 2018 and December 2020.
‘Scott, Saedi, Walker and Hesketh all played a role in supplying [cocaine] to other service personnel,’ he said.
Lance Corporal Bradley Hesketh, 27, and Rifleman Ashleigh Walker (Pictured) were two ‘trusted’ dealers
Rfn Saedi had implemented a ‘double bubble’ system, which required any cash-strapped colleagues who borrowed off him, to repay double the amount on their next pay day
In a text to his brother, he said of his borrowers: ‘These man are giving me sob stories – their cat died, they got to pay for the funeral, I don’t give two f***s.’
He said following an analysis of messages and bank statements, a ‘conservative estimate’ to the total cocaine sold was one kilogram.
Mr Martin continued: ‘The conspiracy was straight forward.
‘Larger amount of cocaine would be sourced from West London and sold onto service personnel. It was well known they were drug dealers.
‘The cocaine itself would be paid for in cash or bank transfer with profits derived from a mark up to £90 to £100 a gram which the defendants could charge due to restricted access in the barracks.’
The court also heard how the quartet would also ‘cut’ their product with a Pro Plus caffeine product.
Rfn Scott kept a comprehensive list of people who owed him money on a notes app on his phone.
In separate messages read to the court, LCpl Hesketh boasted about money he had been making in the drug deals.
When one cocaine package arrived, he texted an accomplice: ‘We’re going to need to do some magic work to it.’
In another message exchange, Rfn Scott expressed ‘some concern’ about LCpl Hesketh’s lack of discretion after he was spotted wearing a Rolex and new Christian Louboutin shoes.
After telling him to ‘chill’, LCpl Hesketh replied: ‘Okay my G, my bad.’
When he was told it wouldn’t ‘take long’ for people to work out where he was getting his money if he continued, he responded: ‘They ask me and I just say, Forex [foreign currency] trading.’
LCpl Hesketh was arrested in December 2020, when his wallet tested positive for cocaine. He admitted keeping the drug in his room on Rfn Scott’s behalf.
When Rfn Scott was arrested and was found with £6,000 in cash.
An examination of his bank accounts established he had received £45,000 which could be attributed to drug sales.
Rfn Scott, 31, kept a comprehensive list of people who owed him money on a notes app on his phone made over £40,000 from his crimes
One of his Rfn Saedi’s loan customers was 20-year-old Rfn Nathan Worner (Pictured), who tragically killed himself at Bulford Barracks in May 2020. Before his death he was paying Saedi £900 every pay day after taking out the ‘double bubble’ loan
his mother, Alison Blackwell, said although Rfn Saedi was not directly responsible, she was ‘haunted’ by the thought of his influence on her son’s death
Rfn Walker had also received a ‘large number’ of £90 payments which totalled £20,500 and was taken into custody in December 2021.
Upon his arrest, Rfn Saedi denied any involvement in selling cocaine and originally claimed he had made his money from his pay day loan scheme.
The court heard there was a ‘culture of money lending at high interest rates’ within the battalion.
Rfn Saedi had implemented a ‘double bubble’ system, which required any cash-strapped colleagues who borrowed off him, to repay double the amount on their next pay day.
It was heard Rfn Saedi had received £43,000 worth of payments during his scheme, which sometimes involved him demanding passports as a security deposit.
The court heard he would ‘persistently chase down’ those who owed him money, pressuring and threatening them to take out other loans to pay his off.
In a text to his brother, he said of his borrowers: ‘These man are giving me sob stories – their cat died, they got to pay for the funeral, I don’t give two f***s.’
One of his customers was 20-year-old Rfn Nathan Worner, who tragically killed himself at Bulford Barracks in May 2020.
After receiving payments of nearly £3,000 in the months before his death, it was heard he failed to repay Rfn Saedi on time.
As a result Rfn Saedi got Rfn Worner’s home address and included it in a message which said: ‘Bruv send me my money or I’m coming to your house.’
The court heard he eventually got Rfn Worner on a payment plan, where he would send him up to £900 a month on pay day before his death.
In a statement read to the court, his mother, Alison Blackwell, said although Rfn Saedi was not directly responsible, she was ‘haunted’ by the thought of his influence on her son’s death.
‘I believe their greed and intimidation would have at least contributed to his state of mind,’ she said.
The quartet – who were all part of 5 Rifles Battalion – have all admitted conspiracy to supply drugs. Sentencing continues at Bulford Military Court (Pictured)
Although Rfn Saedi has not been prosecuted in relation to his death, Mr Martin said: ‘[He] loaned money to vulnerable people and was, at best, indifferent to their plight.’
In relation to his loaning scheme, Rfn Saedi admitted conduct prejudicial to good order.
He also admitted disobedience of lawful command, after he tried to contact LCpl Hesketh’s partner after their arrest.
LCpl Hasketh has also admitted possession of criminal property for holding Rfn Scott’s money and cocaine.
Rfn Scott and Rfn Saedi have both since left the army.
The sentencing hearing continues.