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Jamie Cassidy was the first defendant on an indictment charging four men in connection with cocaine trafficking on an industrial scale. The case had several interesting features:
First, the case was known as Embossed II and represented the vehicle through which a number of fresh arguments relating to the admissibility of data obtained through the penetration of the encrypted telecommunications network Encrochat by French law enforcement were tested.
Second, Jamie Cassidy had been a footballer of exceptional talent and promise. He was signed by Liverpool FC at the age of 9 and subsequently, along with Jamie Carragher, was awarded one of the 16 places at the FA Centre of Excellence. At 15, he was the leading scorer for the England under-16 team in the 1993 to 1994 season with six goals, including three in the European under-16 championships. In the following year, he was top scorer in the England under-16s. He was part of the Liverpool team that won the 1995/1996 FA Youth Cup, alongside Jamie Carragher and Michael Owen and then broke into the Liverpool FC first team. Injuries wrecked his career. In his autobiography, Jamie Carragher said that that Jamie Cassidy would have been a “certain Liverpool regular” but for injuries.
Third, what the extensive reporting of the case largely ignored was what the Judge found had been the redemptive impact of arrest and remand on Jamie Cassidy. A senior prison officer had written this:
“Since Jamie Cassidy has been in custody, he has been a very positive role model for his peers. It was clear from an early stage that Jamie Cassidy wanted to use his time in here as an opportunity to constantly try to improve as a person and leave a better version of himself. He has used his time constructively completing many training and learning courses and again wanting to rehabilitate. What has stood out to me is his willingness to care for others. This has shone through with his work as a listener. The Samaritans cannot speak highly enough about Jamie Cassidy, and he is their lead in helping train new listeners and is the flag ship for the other listeners to aspire to …”.
A representative of the Samaritans spoke of how Jamie Cassidy had saved the lives of other prisoners through his work.
On his arguments about the admissibility of the Encrochat data being rejected, Jamie Cassidy pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply cocaine and a money laundering offence. He was sentenced to 13 years and three months’ imprisonment.
Paul Greaney KC was instructed by Bambos Tsiattalou and Maria Theodoulou of the Stokoe Partnership.
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