Ian Fitzgibbon hatched plans to traffic heroin and cocaine with the men who planned Ashley Dale’s death. The 29-year-old, who was previously cleared of any involvement in the council worker’s murder, was jailed for almost 15 years after being exposed as the user of the EncroChat alias ‘Vimto Hawk’.
He threw his phone out of his flat window when police came knocking on his door before telling detectives he was a “big b****cks”. It was revealed today that he had used the encrypted communications platform to sell Class A drugs with associates including Niall Barry and Sean Zeisz, who are currently serving life sentences after organising a raid on Ms Dale’s home by gunman James Witham, armed with a Skorpion submachine gun, before opening fire.
Liverpool Crown Court heard this morning, Tuesday, that Fitzgibbon had been identified as the owner of the account ‘VimtoHawk’ after it was discovered the pseudonym had been saved to other users’ phones under the names ‘Ian’, ‘Little Ian’ and ‘YIF’. His lock screen password, meanwhile, was the same as his Instagram account password and referred to his family’s pet dog.
David Polglase, prosecuting, described how messages revealed when French police raided the network detailed its involvement in the supply of 19.6kg of cocaine and 21kg of heroin. Fitzgibbon was also accused of running drug trafficking operations in North Wales and Cumbria.
A “note” recovered from his device, dated October 2019, mentioned that he had accumulated £33,000 in “wages”, while his allegedly secret conversations discussed “moving a large quantity of drugs under his father’s name” and having a 50kg stash of heroin in London. On 29 April 2020, he “instructed” Zeisz to buy half a kilo of cocaine and then, on 11 May, sold three kilos to Barry in a deal “brokered” by Zeisz.
Fitzgibbon was arrested at his flat in Linnet Lane, Sefton Park, on February 20 this year after Merseyside Police forced entry through the communal door of his block of flats. He was seen throwing his mobile phone out of the window at the time, although it “landed near a police officer who had seen him throw it”.
Computers were then broken into the address by his sister, and £12,000 in cash was recovered from inside. When questioned, Fitzgibbon admitted using the Encro phone and being “involved in heroin and cocaine deals, but that the amount would not have been as stated in the statement”.
He then remained silent during questioning, saying only that he was a “big prick” and that he was “shouting at the top of his lungs” when discussing the 50kg of heroin in his messages. His criminal record shows four previous convictions for six offences – including possession of cannabis in March 2015, a six-month suspended sentence for two years for possession of cannabis with intent to supply in June 2015 and six months for handling stolen goods and possession of a class B drug in October 2017.
Donal McGuire, defending the accused, told the court his client had written a letter to the judge in which he “set out his hopes for the future, his regrets, his shame” and “his awareness of having let a lot of people down”. He added: “It’s the remorse of a man who has had a chance to reflect on his offence, what he has done and the harm done to his community by a change in circumstances for him.”
“He has made good use of his time in prison. He has an enhanced status. He is doing a lot of courses. He left school at around 17 with a few GCSEs.
“He is trying to make better use of it. He is determined to diligently follow all the courses that are offered to him.
“Even though it may be several years before he is released, he is already preparing for his release. Two months before his arrest, he was lucky enough to see the birth of his first child, to whom he has great affection.
“It’s the kind of event that can change a person like Ian Fitzgibbon, that makes him think about these very poor lifestyle issues that have brought him before the court today. He knows his life has to change.
“He is determined to change for his family and his daughter. Here, the court might find that some of those changes have already taken place.
“He knows the important steps of [his daughter’s] He will miss a lot of things, especially his personal development. He knows that he will not be able to give his daughter the help and support that he would have liked to give her.
“He is doing all he can to obtain redress. I ask my lord not to crush the hope he has for the future and to put this offense behind him.”
Fitzgibbon admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine and possession of criminal property. Appearing in the dock wearing a Columbia blue top and sporting short black hair, he showed no reaction as he was jailed for 14-and-a-half years.
Sentencing, Liverpool Honorary Judge Andrew Menary KC said: “Your offending came to light following law enforcement access to the messaging platform EncroChat. Through diligent police work, you were linked to the username Vimto Hawk – an attribution you have always accepted.
“You had other Encro contacts with whom you were in regular contact, and the messages show that you were sourcing and supplying in bulk – often kilo quantities, sometimes half-kilo quantities – of cocaine and heroin. Furthermore, the messages support the conclusion that you were also operating a County Lines-type operation away from Liverpool.
“You sourced large quantities of drugs from a supplier in London and employed a driver and used a car with a specially adapted hydraulic cache to store the drugs on the return journey north. The prosecution’s criminality scale document shows that you were directly involved in the supply of at least 19.6kg of cocaine and 21.3kg of heroin, a total of just under 40kg of class A drugs.
“Furthermore, you acknowledge that the heroin you traded directly may have come from a stock of approximately 50kg of heroin that was located in London and to which you had access. It is clear from the messages that you were wary of moving significant quantities during the Covid period, when movement was restricted and the risk of being arrested by the police was higher.
“You suggested that the references to that 50kg were just bragging, nonsense on your part. A simple examination of the messages clearly shows, as I say, that you had access to his other significant stock, but you will be convicted on the basis that the heroin sold came from that 50kg stock.
“It is clear that you were a reliable broker with an abundant source of significant quantities of Class A drugs, with the infrastructure to collect and deliver these drugs to customers across the country and not just in Liverpool. You also operated your own lines.
“So you were clearly playing a leading role. You were organising, buying and selling on a commercial scale with substantial links and influence over other actors in the supply chain and, given the large amounts of money involved, with the expectation of substantial financial advantage.
“The fact that £12,000 in cash was found at your home when you were arrested is only a modest indication of the amounts of money involved and which changed hands between you and the people with whom you were dealing. Given the nature of the products discussed and the abject misery and devastation caused in this city and across the country by this activity, the tone of these messages is remarkably mundane.
“That is because – despite the highly criminal nature of these discussions, despite the profits made and the high stakes for which you were playing – you and those with whom you conspired believed that your activities would never be revealed.
“You are 29 years old and have already been convicted of possession of cannabis for the purpose of selling. I do not consider this criminal record to be a particularly aggravating factor.
“In terms of mitigation, the most significant element is your guilty plea which follows an earlier indication at your interview and in the magistrates’ court. I will give you full credit for those pleas.
“You have also sent me a letter expressing your regret at having been involved in this offence and your desire to use your time in custody to improve your prospects of leading a more honest life after your eventual release, particularly in light of the impact your offence has had on your family, particularly your child. I am prepared to accept that your expressions are sincere and that you have a desire to change.
“This personal mitigation, however, is of limited importance given the seriousness of these offences. I take into account all the elements put forward in your favour by Mr Mcguire.”
Judge Menary added that Fitzgibbon faced “a miserable future, with increasingly longer prison sentences” if he did not continue his efforts towards rehabilitation.
Witham, Barry, Zeisz and Joseph Peers were all found guilty of Ms Dale’s murder last November following a trial at the same court. The 28-year-old victim was shot dead in her own home on Leinster Road in Old Swan in the early hours of August 21, 2022.
Fitzgibbon raised his fist in the air as he was unanimously acquitted by the jury. He was also found not guilty of conspiracy to kill Ms Dale’s boyfriend, Lee Harrison, and conspiracy to possess a prohibited weapon, namely a Skorpion submachine gun, and ammunition with intent to endanger life.
Witham, 41, of Ashbury Road in Huyton, was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 43 years, while Peers, 29, who absconded and lives in Woodlands Road in Roby, was given a minimum sentence of 41 years before he could be released. They are said to have taken their orders from Barry, Zeisz and Fitzgibbon, who are said to have been “running the operation” from a flat in Pilch Lane in Huyton.
But Fitzgibbon told jurors he had watched a boxing match involving Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk on television in the flat alongside his co-accused on the night of the shooting and had no knowledge of any plans to attack Leinster Road. Barry, 26, of Moscow Drive in Tuebrook, and Zeisz, 28, of Longreach Road in Huyton, were sentenced to life imprisonment with jail terms of 47 and 42 years.
Fitzgibbon was arrested in Spain on August 9 and extradited to the UK two weeks later to stand trial for Ms Dale’s murder. He was subsequently charged with the EncroChat offences in February 2024.
