A Liverpool drug gang with access to military-grade weapons was minutes away from fleeing the UK via the Channel Tunnel, with Spain as their planned escape route, it has emerged.
However, a police bug planted in their leader’s car brought their empire crashing down.
The group, run by self-proclaimed ‘Boss Man’ Joshua Hayes, was under intense police scrutiny last year when officers intercepted a Mercedes parked in Seaforth, catching the men mid-getaway.
Moments earlier, they’d been swapping vehicles in an attempt to throw off surveillance. But the entire time, a covert listening device had been recording their every word.
Hidden weapons, secret compartments and encrypted chats
Hayes and his crew were already under suspicion when police first searched two flats in Litherland in July 2024.
They found nothing, but audio captured from inside Hayes’ car tipped them off to something far more serious – automatic firearms hidden inside a wall.
Officers returned to one of the properties, linked to gang member Michael Caldwell, and began drilling through freshly plastered walls, uncovering two Skorpion submachine guns, a pistol, and explosive ammunition.
The wall had been rebuilt specifically to conceal the weapons, with a plasterer enlisted to make the stash undetectable.
A street empire built on cocaine, crack, and social media
According to police, the gang was behind a large-scale drug supply operation dealing heroin, crack cocaine, cocaine, cannabis, and ketamine across Merseyside and beyond.
Hayes, who was heard describing himself as ‘the Boss Man’, claimed he shifted a quarter kilo of cocaine every five days. In total, police estimate the gang moved around 9kg of cocaine worth up to £900,000 on the street.
Profits were funnelled through Monzo and Revolut accounts held by Kayla Wilson and others, while several associates were trusted with the gang’s “graft phones” — including during a holiday to Turkey.
Another gang member, James Harrison, sold high-grade cannabis via Instagram and Telegram under the alias ‘BudFellaz”’ Police believe he was moving up to 248kg of product over six months.
‘Might have to be gone tonight us’
The pressure mounted after police raids on 12 July 2024. Hayes, Bennett, Harrison, and Medway were recorded in the bugged car discussing immediate escape plans, saying police had ‘been to the gaff with the hole in the wall’.
Realising they were close to being caught, they plotted a last-minute escape: Hayes offered to drive them to the airport, while others argued they should head straight for the Channel Tunnel, cross into France, and lie low in Spain.
‘Better than being in the shovel,’ one of them said, referring to prison. ‘I’ll just tell my bird when I get to Spain.’
One even mentioned continuing on to Thailand if a warrant was issued.
Hayes calculated they could catch the 2.30am Eurotunnel train if they left within the hour, saying it was ‘only 266 miles down there’, convinced they could slip past French border control.
But police were watching. When they spotted the Mercedes on Muspratt Road, they moved in. Georgie Medway tried to flee, but was brought down by a police dog. Hayes and Harrison were arrested inside the car. Their run was over.
Jail terms and gang hierarchy
Twelve members of the gang were sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court. Among the most severe penalties:
- Joshua Hayes (34): 20 years for conspiracy to supply drugs, firearms offences, and money laundering
- Anthony Bennett (31): 17 years and 7 months
- James Harrison (28): 15 and a half years
- Georgie Medway (21): 12 years
- Matthew Ball (28): 9 years and 2 months
- Thomas Ball (18): 4 years in a young offenders’ institution
- Michael Caldwell (40): 5 years
- Adam Dean (28): 4 years and 8 months
- John Newton (33): 4 years
- Aaron O’Brien (24): 6 years and 8 months
- Kayla Wilson (33): 4 years and 10 months
- Stephen Sutter (33): 6 years and 8 months
Detective Chief Inspector Tony Roberts said the gang posed a serious risk to public safety, with weapons like the Skorpion – linked to innocent fatalities in the region – now removed from circulation.
He praised the officers who ‘acted with courage and speed’ and vowed to keep dismantling the networks that bring violence, drugs and fear to Merseyside.
