Attack probe helped police tackle gang
AFATAL attack on a Liverpool fan in Southport town centre helped police penetrate a notorious drug gang.
Ventsislav Marginov, 51, was walking home with his two sons after watching Liverpool’s Champions League Final victory over Tottenham in May 2019 when he was punched by James Gelling in an entirely unprovoked attack.
He was taken to hospital but died three days later, on June 1.
James Gelling, 31, was initially charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm but this was changed to manslaughter when Marginov died. The Southport man was then jailed for six years for the killing.
In a police interview, Gelling said that he did not care if Mr Marginov ‘lived or died’ or ended up ‘a cabbage’.
However it can now be revealed that the investigation into the fatal attack helped police to penetrate the High Parkers drug gang.
A court document has revealed that police seized a number of mobile phones when they arrested key suspects after the attack on Mr Marginov.
The phones revealed an association between leading members of the High Parkers including James Gelling, Nathan Ball, Kane Doherty, Jordan Gelling and Ryan Edwards.
An in particular, mobile records helped police to learn more about the large drug conspiracy at the heart of the High Parkers gang.
As a direct result of the manslaughter investigation police stopped Cara Wilding on Hesketh Drive in Southport.
Wilding was found with a mobile phone found to be running the High Parkers cocaine line.
The seizure of the phone was significant and provided detectives with crucial information about the conspiracy.
When James Gelling was later jailed for killing Mr Marginov, his brother Jordan took over his role in the drug gang.
The court document also reveals that High Parkers boss Nathan Ball betrayed a ‘lack of criminal nous’ in relying on the same two graft phones, used to sell drugs.
It explains that normally crime groups change graft phone numbers to avoid police detection, but Ball’s gang decided not to do this.
Police believed that Ball was reluctant to change the numbers because they were so well known in the Southport area and helped the gang to sell regular amounts to their customers.
It has also emerged that police found video footage on a mobile phone which showed James Gelling arguing with his partner, when she claimed that she knew where one of the gang’s guns was hidden.
Prosecutors believed the High Parkers gang had a clear hierarchy, with different members specialising in different roles.
The gang also used the technique of using a drug debt to ‘cuckoo’ vulnerable customers who would be forced to mind drugs for the gang after falling behind with payments.
Police also found that the High Parkers were ‘short changing’ customers in Southport by selling £10 wraps of cocaine that were underweight by 1 gram.
The High Parkers were named after the High Park area of Southport where many of the criminals had grown up. They controlled the sale of cocaine and cannabis in the town, using violence to target enemies.
Police closed in on the organised crime group last October, which resulted in all the leading members of the gang being charged with conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs.
During a sentencing earlier this month 15 members of the gang were jailed for over 110 years at Liverpool Crown Court after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A and B drug.
Ball was jailed for 12 years and Rigby and Fashoni received nine years each. James Gelling was jailed for eight years for his part in the conspiracy.
Wilding, of Hollins Court in Hawarden, North Wales, will be sentenced later this year.
Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Inspector Catherine Walsh said: “This sentencing marks the end of an extensive investigation which has dismantled this extremely harmful OCG, and I’m sure the communities of Southport and beyond share our satisfaction that these people have been removed from the streets.
“They will be unable to spread their misery any longer. Drug supply and associated violent crime ruins the lives of countless people, and those sentenced have also thrown away their own futures by getting involved. Hopefully some of those jailed today will reflect upon the risks, the harm, and their punishments, and change their ways.
“Serious and organised crime remains a priority for Merseyside Police, and we will continue to take positive action against those who blight our communities. Information from the public is vital and we will continue to act on all that we receive.
“We will continue to work tirelessly to remove drug dealers from our streets and provide our communities with a safe place to live, work and visit. My message to those engaged in organised crime is clear: we know who you are, we can see where you are operating, and we will come knocking.”
Anyone with information on drug dealing in their community is asked to contact @MerPolCC, call 101 or Crimestoppers UK anonymously on 0800 555 111.