Overview

• Judge John Potter paused the multi-day sentencing until Thursday after three days of hearings at Manchester Crown Court.
• Prosecutors presented encrypted EncroChat exchanges showing Rothwell organising large-scale cocaine and ketamine trafficking alongside procurement of AK-47s, RPGs and Glock pistols.
• Evidence linked Rothwell to the April 24, 2020 Poplars Avenue attack in Warrington, where shots fired through a pizza-box ruse injured a man in the leg.
• Ten co-defendants—including Craig Makinson, Callum Morris and Zak Rourke—face sentences for offences from conspiracy to supply Class A drugs to conspiracy to endanger life with firearms.
• Armed escorts, road closures and a police helicopter underscored the high-security measures as Rothwell appeared via video link from custody.