A TRUCK driver from Exmouth has denied being part of a cocaine and heroin dealing gang and told a jury he was visiting his family during visits to Liverpool.

John O’Neill is on trial at Exeter Crown Court accused of running the Exmouth leg of a massive £1.25 million drugs ring which operated throughout Devon and Cornwall.

He told the jury that he had nothing to do with drug dealing and that a friend who he gave lifts to must have been operating the three drugs lines which he has been linked with.He said he was too busy working as a driver at an animal feeds firm in Sowton, Exeter, or fishing to have for involved in the conspiracy.

He said that 24 alleged contacts with other drugs lines or other known conspirators were all coincidences and that he had gone to the Finlake Holiday Park near Chudleigh to fish in its lake rather than to meet other members of the crime group.

He said he had driven a group of men who have admitted being part of the conspiracy to Polperro in Cornwall but said he had done so as a favour.He also denied being given tickets to watch England’s 2021 European Championships finals against Italy at Wembley as reward for his work.

O’Neill is one of four men on trial at Exeter who deny being part of the conspiracy, which ran over 18 months in 2021 and 2022.

The jury have been told that 12 others have pleaded guilty, including one who changed his plea during this trial.

Another local defendant, who is alleged to have sold drugs for the crime group in Dawlish, has chosen not to give evidence.

Dominic McLoughlin, aged 43, of Chorley Road, Liverpool; James Casey, 43, of River Bank Walk, Colchester; John O’Neill, aged 54, of High Street, Exmouth, and John Ward, aged, 54, of East Cliff, Dawlish, all deny conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine.

Mr Ray Tully, KC prosecuting, has spent three weeks taking the jury through hundreds of pages of phone records and linking them to the movements of 22 people who were identified by police.

Drugs worth thousands of pounds and £25,000 cash were seized during a series of vehicle stops in Devon, Cornwall, Liverpool and on roads linking the North West to the South West.

Some suspects were kept under surveillance by police and there is also evidence of movement of vehicles which were tracked through number plate recognition cameras.

The 36 different phones used by the group have also been located and linked to phone masts which showed where they were used at particular times.

Mr Tully said the dealers used holiday parks, camp sites, Airbnbs and hotels around the South West, including Finlake and hired a camper van to tour Cornwall as they expanded their operation.

Deliveries were made to towns and seaside resorts including Exmouth, Teignmouth, Dawlish, Ilfracombe, Hayle, Penzance, Camborne and Truro.

Mr Tully said 12 people have pleaded guilty to conspiracy, two to money laundering, and one to possessing drugs with intent to supply.

Another three defendants will be tried in August.

O’Neill is alleged to have ran a branch of the conspiracy in Exmouth and had been tracked going to Liverpool on six trips in the summer of  2021 during some of which the Exmouth drugs line phone moved with him.

He denied any involvement when he gave evidence. He said the Exmouth drugs line phone must have been in the possession of a friend who he knew only as Carl, who lived in Exmouth and also had family ties to Liverpool.

O’Neill said he had offered Carl a lift when he had visited his own family in Liverpool but had no idea that he was involved in drugs.

He said Carl was a keen fisherman who kept his tackle at his home and joined him on trips to Squabmoor Reservoir on Woodbury Common and Finlake.

He accepted he had visited Finlake when members of the drugs gang were staying there, but said he had only gone there to fish.

He said all his trips to Liverpool were for family visits, including events such as a first communion.

He showed the jury photos of his sister, nephews and nieces visiting him in Exmouth and playing on the beach.

He said he had just been sightseeing when he took others who have admitted the conspiracy to Polperro in August 2021 and said he had no idea they were drug dealers.

O’Neill, who is a father and grandfather, said he was shocked when his car was boxed in by three police vehicles near the George and Dragon pub at Clyst St George as he returned home from a visit to Liverpool a few days later.

He said: ‘The police were going to smash the window before I opened the door. I asked what it was about. I was astounded, shocked. My reaction was horror and dismay. I had nothing to do with drugs.

‘When I saw Carl I asked what was going on and he said he was so sorry and said it was about the people he introduced me to.

'I’ve been expecting a phone call from the police to say it was all a mistake but her I am.‘I did not know them, except for one person. I have never run a drugs line. This is all guilt by association.’

The trial continues.