The five women appeared in court this week
Ashley Stephens, left, and Kerry Rutledge, right, outside Liverpool Crown Court(Image: Liverpool Echo)
A judge told the former girlfriend of a Liverpool drugs kingpin: “You must have known what you were doing was very, very wrong”. Ashley Stephens, along with four other women – Nicola Blood, Carmina Clynch, Kerry Rutledge, and Sharon Waring – each played a role in a massive drug dealing conspiracy commandeered by Stephens’ ex-boyfriend, Terence Clarke.
Blood, 54, Stephens, 32, and Clynch, 31, and Waring, 54, allowed their homes to be used as “safehouses” for the storage and production of drugs, while Rutledge, 46, laundered the operation’s ill-gotten gains, accepting multiple payments into her bank account.
They were caught during a police investigation into Terence Clarke, who ran county lines supply chains across England and Wales using the Encrochat handle “SacredTruck”. The encrypted network was hacked by law enforcement in 2020, but Clarke continued to deal in drugs until he was arrested in February 2023.
The five women appeared at Liverpool crown court on Monday, September 8. Nicola Blood had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine), but was found guilty after a trial.
Ashley Stephens pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs. Carmina Clynch pleaded guilty to permitting her premises to be used for the supply of class A and class B drugs. Kerry Rutledge pleaded guilty to money laundering, and Sharon Waring pleaded guilty to permitting her premises to be used for the supply of class B drugs.
Sentencing Stephens, judge David Swinnerton said: “You involved yourself in a group, and one particular man, dealing in very high levels and large quantities of class A drugs. On January 19 2023 when police searched your house, 3.4kg was found. That’s a very large amount in itself.
“You were being used and your home was being used as a safehouse. You were perhaps being groomed, because for a period of time you were in a relationship with Terence Clarke.
“Terence Clarke is at the centre of this particular conspiracy. You came within his web, not through threat or fear, but through an intimate relationship. You went along with that. You must have known what you were doing was very, very wrong.”
Left to right: Kerry Rutledge, Ashley Stephens, Sharon Waring, Carmina Clynch(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Sentencing Blood, he said: “Nicola Blood’s flat was clearly being used as a safehouse for the storage the preparation and thereafter distribution of class A drugs.
“In January 2023 that flat was searched by the police and various items were found including graft phones and half a kilo of class A drugs. It’s clear that flat had been used for a considerable amount of time by others in order to prepare drugs. She spoke of ‘pluggers’ from Stoke being brought to the house in order to prepare drugs.
“Blood is mentioned in the EncroChat chat messages of Terence Clarke and so her involvement was for quite a considerable period of time – three years.
“Her defence said she was under considerable amount of threat or fear of serious injury. That’s a defence the jury rejects. Blood herself talked about the men who were using her flat often in quite friendly terms.
“Having said that, I have seen her give evidence and I have read reports about her mental health. She has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. I was also able to form an impression of her myself, and I formed the impression that she was somewhat immature.
“I do take the view that she was a naïve woman who was useful to this group. She was prepared to allow them to use her premises and not sufficiently robust to stop them.”
Nicola Blood, 54, formerly of Dalemeadow Road in Knotty Ash(Image: Merseyside Police)
Sentencing Clynch, who also allowed her home to be used as a safehouse, he said: “I accept that you were someone who had your own vulnerabilities and were exploited to some extent by those who were using your home.
“People like you are useful to people like them because you’re not on the radar of the police, and your home is a useful place to store and keep drugs.
“You did that despite having a son at home. You exposed your son, who is now six, to the risks that come with those who deal at a high level with class A drugs.”
Turning to Rutledge, who laundered £24,975 for the organised crime gang, he said: “You were highly involved over a period of 13 months. In allowing your bank accounts to be used by Terence Clarke, and working with Terence Clarke and others to launder criminal money. It went through your accounts and was then sent out as requested and required.
“This was a huge drug dealing empire which you have assisted by having the stupidity of allowing people to pass money through your bank account.”
Finally sentencing Waring, whose house was used for the storage of cannabis, he said: “You were playing somewhat of a lesser role than others. You were a drug user and inevitably you were connected to people who were profiting from people like you, and all of that resulted in them using your house as a place where it was safe to store, bag, sort and distribute cannabis.
“I’m prepared to pass a community order and give you an opportunity because you have demonstrated you’re willing and able to do something to help yourself.”
The defendants were handed the following sentences:
Nicola Blood, 54, formerly of Dalemeadow Road in Knotty Ash, was sentenced to six years in prisonAshley Stephens, 32, of Abingdon Grove, Walton, was sentenced to three years and nine months in prisonCarmina Clynch, 31, of Childwall, was sentenced to 18 months suspended for two years, 20 rehabilitation days, and a 12 month mental health treatment requirementKerry Rutledge, 46, of Rydal Street, Everton was sentenced to 18 months suspended for two years, 10 rehabilitation days and 250 hours of unpaid workSharon Waring, 54, of York Street, Walton, was sentenced to an 18 month community order, 20 rehabilitation days, and a nine month drug rehabilitation requirement