Tony Booth has prison term cut

SkillspayBills · Jun 23, 2012

Just seen this and thought i'd post it..

A BOXER at the heart of a drugs and counterfeiting gang has had his jail term cut.

Tony Booth, 41, was jailed for nine years for his role in a conspiracy to supply cocaine in the city through the Timber Dock pub in Victoria Dock.


Sentence reduced: Tony Booth.

Booth was locked up along with six other men, including former Timber Dock landlord George Rowley, chef Christopher Coles and former drugs mentor Peter Brook, for a combined total of almost 30 years.

But appeal judges sitting at London's High Court have reduced Booth's sentence to seven years and three months.

Mrs Justice Dobbs said Booth was "at the heart" of the drugs conspiracy but claimed he had made little money out of his dealings.

She concluded the sentence was, therefore, too high and ordered it to be reduced.

Police had caught the men after launching an undercover sting, known as Operation Beech, into the supply of cocaine and ecstasy and the passing of counterfeit money in the area.

Booth, who had 166 professional fights during his 18-year career, was described as a "lieutenant".

He was "pivotal" to introducing all the other defendants to each other and used contacts he had made throughout his boxing career to obtain drugs and counterfeit currency for his co-accused.

Undercover officers were supplied with £20,320 worth of cocaine and £12,000 in counterfeit euros during a seven-month investigation.

Booth, who still holds the record for the greatest number of wins in the ring, claimed he committed the offences for financial reasons but estimated his gain was no more than £1,200.

Two of Booth's accomplices also challenged their sentences George Joseph Brown, 37, of Shrubbery Road, Gravesend, Kent, and Mark Raymond Agius, 29, of Wellington Avenue, Hornsea.

Agius received a four-year term after admitting one count of supplying cocaine, but Mrs Justice Dobbs rejected claims that his punishment was "manifestly excessive".

Brown was jailed for three years after he admitted delivering counterfeit currency, which the Appeal Court reduced to two years and three months.
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Tony Booth has prison term cut

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