Three men have been jailed after they used a fake Tesco delivery driver in a £100,000 murder plot against a stranger.
Craig Miller, 37, Elijah Stokes, 38, and Connor Palmer, 40, were acting under the orders of a Dubai-based “Mr Big” drug dealer, who offered the trio a six-figure sum to have the man killed.
The victim was shot five times by an unidentified gunman who knocked on his door disguised as a Tesco worker and asked: “Are you expecting a delivery?”
He was left fighting for his life with gunshot wounds to his face, arm and hand but survived the “movie-like” assassination attempt in his home.
Jurors were told the group planned the hit after their target owed money to a high-level UK drug dealer living in Dubai.
The victim’s partner opened the door to their home in the Sheldon area of Birmingham to find a man in a Tesco jacket, high-vis vest and black ski mask.
He asked if she was “expecting a delivery” and said: “He’s here, isn’t he” before entering the house and opening fire at the man.
Three Individuals Jailed for £100K Scheme Involving Fake Tesco Delivery Driver
A young child was in the house at the time but was not hurt by the hail of bullets during the botched attack in May 2020.
Mr Justice Pepperall said Miller, Stokes and Palmer did their business “ruthlessly, showing no compassion whatsoever to your victim”.
He said the victim “only survived due to the ineptitude of the gunman and extraordinary good luck”.
The judge said Stokes had been a “trusted lieutenant” and described all three as “dangerous men”.
Birmingham Crown Court was told the group was caught after police cracked their Encrochat – an encrypted global communication service used exclusively by criminals.
Detectives found in the weeks after the bungled murder attempt, the dealer in Dubai told Miller he wanted another man to be killed.
Three thugs who hired an assassin to shoot a man dead on the orders of a Dubai-based drug dealer as part of a £100,000 ‘movie-like’ murder plot are facing jail.
The victim was blasted five times in front of his partner and child by a hitman who knocked on his door disguised as a Tesco worker and asked: ‘Are you expecting a delivery?’
He was left fighting for his life with gunshot wounds to his face, arm and hand but ‘remarkably survived’ the attack in his own home in Birmingham.
A court heard Craig Miller, 37, Elijah Stokes, 37, and Connor Palmer, 37, had hired the would-be assassin to carry out the murder plot in May 2020.
Trio Sentenced to Jail for £100K Conspiracy
The target owed money to a high-level UK drug dealer living in Dubai, and the group paid a gunman £40,000 to carry out the hit.
Jurors were told the victim’s partner opened the door to their home in the Sheldon area of the city to find a man in a Tesco jacket and wearing a high-vis vest.
He asked if she was ‘expecting a delivery’ and said: ‘He’s here, isn’t he’ before entering the house and opening fire at the man.
A young child was in the house at the time but was not injured.
In the weeks after the murder attempt, the ‘Mr Big’ dealer in Dubai told Miller he wanted another man to be killed.
He sent a photo with the caption ‘That’s him’, to which Miller chillingly replied, ‘Clips going in his head’.
West Midlands Police said the messages found on an encrypted EncroChat phone belonging to Palmer helped bring down the global organised crime figures.
Detectives found Palmer, Miller, and another man formed a group in which the high-level drug dealer paid £100,00 to kill their victim.
Miller, of Epsom, Surrey, Stokes, of Earlsdon, Coventry and Palmer, of Norbury, South London, was found guilty of conspiracy to murder at Birmingham Crown Court.
Trio Locked Up for £100K Murder Plot
Miller was also found guilty of conspiracy to murder the second person following the three-month trial, although the shooting never actually occurred.
The trio will be punished at a later date.
Detective Inspector Gemma Currie said afterwards: ‘The messages we uncovered as part of this investigation make for truly chilling reading and are like something from a movie.
‘It was a miracle that the shooting victim in Sheldon survived.
‘Thanks to the EncroChat breakthrough, we could not unravel this conspiracy to murder.
‘The gang thought that they could communicate securely about their murderous plans, but thanks to the international law enforcement community, we could show exactly what they were planning and how they planned it.’
