Deborah Mason, known as "Queen Bee", recruited members of her own family to collect and deliver drugs across Britain. Photo / Met Police
A family-run crime gang with a 65-year-old “gangster granny” boss has been sentenced for dealing drugs worth £80 million ($180m).
Deborah Mason, dubbed “Queen Bee”, and seven other members of the gang – six of them female – were sentenced to a total of 106.5 years at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday for their involvement in supplying nearly a tonne of cocaine over seven months.
A group of couriers collected packages of imported cocaine and drove them across London, as well as Bradford, Leicester, Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff, between April and November 2023.
The drugs had an estimated wholesale value of between £23m and £35m and a street value of £80m.
The ringleader spent her profits on designer goods and was looking to go to Turkey to have cosmetic surgery. Mothers who were part of the gang took their young children to collect the drugs.
Mason, dubbed “gangster granny” by the Metropolitan Police, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Judge Philip Shorrock told Mason: “You were effectively the site foreman working under the direction of a site manager.
“You recruited members of your own family – as a mother you should have been setting an example for your children and not corrupting them.”
Earlier, Charlotte Hole, prosecuting, said: “All of the offenders participated in a conspiracy which involved the nationwide supply of around a tonne of cocaine, collected usually from areas near ports such as Harwich, and delivered across the country.
“Everyone involved had an expectation of significant financial advantage, at least £1000 per trip. They all had an awareness of the scale of the operation.”
Mason played a “leading role”, took part in 20 trips, delivering 356kg of cocaine, and also made trips to deliver and collect cash.
Hole said: “She [Mason] recruited both her family members – her sister and her children – as well as partners and friends of her children, to a network of at least 10 individuals.”
She also organised those who drove for her, staying in phone contact from the early hours to make sure they were up and checking in on them during the day.
The court heard she was in receipt of more than £50,000 per year in benefit income during the conspiracy period, while acting as ringleader and spending lavishly on luxuries as well as planning to travel to Turkey for cosmetic surgery.
When Mason was on holiday in Dubai, her daughter Roeseanne Mason, who made seven trips delivering about 166kg of cocaine, stepped into the directing role, the court heard.
The prosecution said that “most significantly” she recruited Anita Slaughter to the gang, whom she offered work on a daily basis.
Lillie Bright was involved in 20 trips involving 195kg of cocaine.
Her partner Chloe Hodgkin, 23, of Wye, Kent, is awaiting the birth of her baby and is to be sentenced at a date to be set.
Hole said: “The two of them took Lillie Bright’s son with them, who was 2 at the time, in a car with cardboard boxes containing kilograms of cocaine.”
Bright also had 35g of cocaine she offered for sale, the court heard.
The prosecution said Roeseanne collected cash for her mother and also “provided childcare so that others could work”.
Mother of two Demi Bright made a single trip in August 2023, which involved 60kg of cocaine.
She took her children with her on the two-day trip. She agreed to deliver more drugs in November 2023 but dropped out.
It appears she stepped back from the drug plot after her sister Roeseanne was arrested, “saying she wanted to go straight”, the court heard.
Reggie Bright’s 12 trips as part of the gang delivered at least 90kg and there were times he collected wages for the group.
He usually took trips with his partner, Demi Kendall, 31, telling her “not to get the hump because we need the money”, the court heard.
Kendall carried out 15 trips involving 98kg of cocaine and “often” took her toddler with her in a car.
She also recruited her friend, Tina Golding, who made four trips and delivered at least 75kg of cocaine. She collected at least $10,000 in wages.
Slaughter took part in a single trip, which amounted to 55kg across four drops, in October 2023.
Roseanne Mason, 29, of Canonbury, north London, and Demi Bright, 30, of Ashford, Kent, were each sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment.
Lillie Bright, 26, of Ashford, Kent, was sentenced to 13 years, and Demi Kendall, 31, of Staplehurst, Kent, got 13 years and six months.
Reggie Bright, 24, of Staplehurst, Kent, was sentenced to 15 years, and Tina Golding, 66, of Ashford, Kent, was jailed for 10 years. Anita Slaughter, 44, of Ashford, Kent, got 13 years.
After sentencing, Robert Hutchinson, the Crown Prosecution Service specialist prosecutor, said: “This was no ordinary family. Instead of nurturing and caring for her relatives, Deborah Mason recruited them to establish an extraordinarily profitable criminal enterprise that would ultimately put them all behind bars.”
Detective Constable Jack Kraushaar, who led the investigation, said: “The group were sucked into criminality, selfishly attracted by the financial benefits of the drug-dealing to fund lavish lifestyles. They were unaware we were coming for them and this sentencing should act as a deterrent to those who think about committing this type of crime.”