He thought he could murder someone in cold blood on 'his estate', he was wrong
Andrew Shacklady spent years cultivating a chilling reputation for violence - but his 'lofty arrogance' would prove to be his undoing
For Andrew Shacklady, the law was something to be 'treated with contempt'. Previously labelled by police as the 'most dangerous drug dealer in the county', he had dedicated years to establishing a fearsome reputation for brutality.
Merciless and ingenious, he held several communities under a 'grip of terror'. However, that 'lofty arrogance', as a judge would subsequently characterise it, would ultimately lead to his downfall.
At the turn of the millennium, Shacklady, then in his early thirties, started constructing one of the most extensive drugs networks in the north.
Rising from modest origins on the overspill estates of Skelmersdale, Andy Shack, as he became known, climbed to command an enterprise that brought in enormous quantities of heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and crack from the Netherlands. During the peak of his influence, he was believed to be generating £750,000 weekly while supplying criminal gangs throughout Lancashire and Scotland.
Shacklady deployed his wealth to embrace an extravagant lifestyle. He once boasted to an associate that he possessed 'about 50 houses up and down the country', was constructing a £400,000 Grand Designs-style mansion on Skelmersdale's outskirts, and drove a £32,000 BMW previously owned by Manchester United star Ryan Giggs, reports the Manchester Evening News.
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He also possessed a £33,000 inflatable dinghy which he personally piloted across the North Sea to Holland for drug collections. However, in 2001, the criminal kingpin attracted police attention.
A massive police operation - codenamed Operation Oregon - was initiated to bring him to justice. However, it would be Shacklady's own arrogance that ultimately sealed his fate.
In 2002, the drugs kingpin reportedly had a falling-out with an associate called Paul 'Casper' Fields. He had previously served as an intermediary for Shacklady, facilitating £500,000 drugs transactions between Merseyside and Scotland.
However, according to prosecutors, Mr Fields had grown increasingly frustrated with his associate after being excluded from a drug transaction. Meanwhile, Shacklady wanted to dispense with the middleman he was paying £12,000 for each exchange.
Therefore, when Mr Fields took money from a deal without prior permission, Shacklady determined he needed to be made an example of. It became widely known the go-between had become a target.
Matters reached a critical point on August 6, 2002. Mr Fields, 49, who had discovered his life was under threat and had armed himself with a recommissioned firing pistol, had spent the day drinking with a friend in the Alderley area of Skelmersdale.
At approximately 8.30pm that evening, Shacklady entered a pub and fatally shot his former associate with a 9mm Glock pistol, also shooting his companion, who survived. Shacklady appeared so convinced that nobody would dare give evidence against him that he was prepared to commit murder in front of multiple witnesses.
Nevertheless, he didn't remain to discover whether his faith in his own immunity was justified. Following the shooting, Shacklady vanished.
Following his designation as one of the north west's most wanted, he was understood to have sought refuge in France, Holland and the USA. However, his time evading capture was finite.
When officers finally caught up with him, they confiscated more than £2m worth of cocaine and heroin, along with one million ecstasy tablets connected to Shacklady's criminal operation.
Among the discoveries was over £1m of crack and heroin concealed within holdalls at a caravan in Craven, North Yorkshire, during September 2003. At that time, it was believed to represent the largest drugs seizure the county had ever witnessed.
That same month, following more than a year on the run, Shacklady was arrested by armed officers at Beach Holiday Resort caravan site in Lowestoft, Suffolk.
The subsequent July, following proceedings at Manchester Crown Court, Shacklady, then aged 35, of Croft Caravan Park, Wigan Road, Leyland, was convicted of murder, attempted murder and numerous drugs trafficking charges.
Sentencing him to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years, Mr Justice Royce stated that Mr Fields was killed simply because Shacklady was 'a ruthless drugs baron who wanted to maintain his supremacy'.
The judge added: "Some of those who you had dealings with lived in fear of you ... Fear was one of the tools of your trade. You showed no hint of remorse, rather a lofty arrogance."
Following the sentencing, Det Chief Insp Ian Kennedy described how Shacklady 'thought he was untouchable'. He continued: "He killed Paul Fields in cold blood in broad daylight when there were numerous witnesses around because he thought he would be safe to do so on 'his' estate."
Det Ch Insp Kevin Toole revealed that apprehending Shacklady represented one of the most challenging cases throughout his 25-year career. "He was a ruthless and resourceful gangster who, for too many years, held several communities in Lancashire in a grip of terror.
"Witnesses were often in fear of their lives and too afraid to seek police help, allowing his violent reputation to thrive. He was, in my view, the most dangerous drug dealer in the county."
However, Shacklady's downfall continued beyond his prison sentence. Three months following his incarceration, the crime boss was ordered to repay £2.2m in proceeds from his drug-dealing empire.
During a two-week proceeds of crime hearing, the court learnt he had operated under multiple aliases and borrowed identities in a bid to conceal his substantial wealth from law enforcement. His partially constructed mansion, which had suffered extensive vandalism after his imprisonment, was subsequently auctioned off for just £155,000.
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