The family crime gang who ran a drugs empire from a sleepy village and terrorised a community: Husband, wife and son ‘slashed tyres if locals dialled 999 and dealt drugs from ice cream van’ – as matriarch sparks manhunt by going on the run
- Lynne, Stephen, and Samson Leyson lived in Capel Dewi, Carmerthenshire
- Lynne, 52, has been on the run from police officers for three months
A family crime gang who ran a drugs empire from a sleepy village terrorised neighbours who would wake up and find their car tyres mysteriously slashed if they dared to call police.
Lynne Leyson, her husband Stephen, and his son Samson’s reign of terror almost caused one person to be put into a psychiatric hospital, while others sold their homes to escape their drug-dealing neighbours.
The Leysons sold cannabis and cocaine from their family farm in Capel Dewi, Carmerthenshire, south-west Wales, with a grit box at the end of the road used as drop-off point for deals.
Neighbours would witness dozens of cars arriving at the farm at all hours and speeding away within minutes of arriving.
Villagers, once feeling safe tucked away in their sleepy village, became terrified by the law-breaking family and all went out and bought cameras for security.
Farmer’s wife Lynne Leyson operated a hidden double life as the godmother of a family crime gang
Lynne’s husband Stephen Leyson (left) and his son Samson (right) were jailed for a total of 17 years in July after the farm was raided by police
The gang was caught with £60,000 of cocaine, £15,000 of cannabis and a 9mm handgun when police raided the farm.
READ MORE: Farmer’s wife, 52, is hunted across UK after leading double life as godmother of family crime gang that was caught with £60,000 of cocaine, £15,000 of cannabis and 9mm handgun
Police also discovered two dealers in Pembrokeshire, who were working on behalf of the family to sell drugs, including one who was known as ‘Mr Pickles’.
Stephen, 55, and Samson, 24, were put behind bars for a combined 17 years, but farmer’s wife Lynne is still on the run three months after being sentenced for nine years, with it thought she might be in Thailand.
Lynne was the godmother of the family crime gang and hid her criminality behind the curtains of the farm. Always ‘beautifully dressed’, with her hair styled, neighbours fell for her and her husband’s charm.
Although on occasions Stephen’s real side would seep out from the facade with one villager recalling how he threw a bin full of rubbish at a neighbour when she complained it had been strewn over her land, reported The Times.
Before their misdeeds were uncovered in Capel Dewi, the Leysons had menaced another community 12 miles south in Kidwelly.
Here, with views of a Norman castle in the distance, the stench of cannabis coming from the ‘filthy’ home was unmissable.
£15,615 of cannabis was seized by the police at Pibwr Farm, near Capel Dewi, Carmarthenshire
Police recovered a 9mm semi-automatic handgun which was found stashed at the farm
‘They lived here for nearly ten years, they nearly put me in the [psychiatric] hospital, it was unbelievable,’ one former neighbour told The Times. ‘I didn’t want to stay here, but who was going to buy this house?’
The family had an ice-cream van where neighbours hinted they were selling more than ice-cream from.
And if neighbours dared to call the police they would wake the next morning to find the tyres on the cars had mysteriously been slashed and deflated as a menacing Samson glared down at them from the balcony.
After a decade of living there they sold up the home for £109,000 when men in smart suits had arrived days earlier and demanded money from Stephen, it is claimed.
Swansea Crown Court heard husband and wife Stephen and Lynne Leyson denied any wrongdoing when they were questioned.
Lynne Leyson was found guilty by a jury of conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply cannabis, and possessing criminal property.
A bench warrant was issued after she previously failed to turn up to court for sentencing – and she is has now been jailed for nine years in her absence.
Judge Catherine Richards said: ‘Lynne Leyson has chosen not to attend her sentencing hearing. It appears to be a deliberate attempt to evade justice.’
She added: ‘She presented at trial as someone who controlled a number of people working for her in this serious offence.’
Stephen was jailed for 11 years for conspiracy to supply cocaine, possession of a firearm, conspiracy to supply cannabis and possession of criminal property.
Samson was handed a six-year sentence for conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to supply cannabis.
The family claimed that cash seized by police was from a ‘house sale’
After the case, one neighbour said: ‘We just couldn’t believe it.
‘They seemed like a normal farming family, well a bit rough around the edges like a lot of country people. Lynne seemed very normal really – not a cocaine dealer like she was. It is all very odd.’
A Crimestoppers appeal said: ‘Arrest enquiries have been conducted at known addresses where Lynne is likely to frequent. These premises are across Carmarthen and parts of Swansea. To date these have been negative enquiries.
Enquiries to date have returned negative results. A request is being made for Lynne Leyson aka Annelyn Caldicot to be placed on Crimestoppers as a wanted person.
She is described as being 5ft 4in, with black hair, brown eyes, right handed, a surgical scar on left leg and having a Welsh accent.
Anyone who sees her is asked to call anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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