Keith Shea wrought misery through his extensive drug network and hid arsenal of weapons including a loaded Skorpion sub-machine gun
A university-educated drugs baron who lived a champagne lifestyle through peddling cocaine had a Skorpion submachine gun stashed at his home. Keith Shea wrought misery through his extensive supply of the class A drug, making millions of pounds of dirty cash in the process.
His wife, Sara Shea, a former beautician, helped the drugs baron launder his dirty cash, with the couple enjoying the lavish lifestyle they had built from their criminality. The couple benefited from their criminal activities to the tune of £4,089,545 over six years.
But the couple blew the rest of their loot on a lavish, jet set lifestyle, spending thousands on luxury holidays, designer clothes and expensive jewellery.
The couple married in a lavish Barbados beach ceremony – splashing out £12,000 on flights alone – before throwing a £6,000 homecoming at Wirral’s luxury Hillbark Hotel. When police raided their home in Broadway Avenue, Wallasey, they discovered £12,000 worth of handbags and his-and-hers Chopard watches worth £100,000.
A £110,000 Aston Martin was parked on their front drive, alongside a £76,000 Porsche and a £46,500 BMW. Not only that, Shea would have a chauffeur drive him from the couple’s huge detached house in Wallasey all the way down to London to dine in the finest and trendiest restaurants.
He was also often seen in front row seats and corporate hospitality at top sporting events the world over – including mega-rich favourite the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix.
When police got their hands on the accounts, forensic accounts established Keith Shea had benefited to the tune of £3,971,660 by his crimes, while his wife had gained an additional £117,885.
However, their mirage of a life came tumbling down when the well-spoken baron was seen by officers walking away from a lock-up garage. Officers descended on the garage where Shea would store and package class A drugs.
When he was finally arrested, officers found 3,128 tablets of ecstasy in a toolbox as well as amphetamine paste and a haul of cocaine, plus the cutting agent benzocaine, scales, food mixers and a hydraulic press.
After the capture of Shea in January 2007, Liverpool Crown Court heard how the street value of Shea’s haul was estimated to be a jaw-dropping £4.4 million.
Following a raid on Shea’s Wirral home, police believed he was eyeing up a move into “footballer’s row” by buying an £800,000 mansion in Caldy – home to many of Merseyside’s Premier League stars – after finding an estate agent’s brochure on his coffee table.
Officers also found pictures of Shea and his associates at a corporate hospitality table at the 2006 Open Golf Championship, held at Hoylake, and family tickets to fly to the Cricket World Cup in Barbados.
Shea paid £30,000, in cash, for the trip but was nicked before he got to board the plane.
During his appearances in court, it was revealed how Shea used other locations to package the drugs before selling them, with a wardrobe full of guns being located in a flat on Sandringham Drive in Wallasey. Among his deadly arsenal was a loaded Skorpion sub-machine gun, revolvers and a silencer and magazine.
Found alongside the firearms were hollow bullets, designed to expand on impact.
Shea pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, ecstasy and amphetamine. He also pleaded guilty to six charges of possessing prohibited firearms and four charges of possessing ammunition without a certificate. He was jailed for 15 years.
Julian Nutter, defending, told the court Shea had become involved in the drugs trade after using drugs himself. He said Shea felt remorseful and his wife was divorcing him because of his criminality.
His wife was later put behind bars herself for two-and-a-half years for helping him launder his dirty cash. Insp Ian Shaw, of Merseyside Police, said at the time of sentencing: “Shea is one of those characters that really sticks in the public’s throat. He lived this extravagant lifestyle with all the trimmings yet had no visible means of support.
“He had the cars, the house and was at any sporting event you care to mention. His extravagances show exactly the kind of cash Shea had to throw around.
“We found evidence linking his drugs network right across the UK, from Merseyside to Devon and Cornwall. And from our investigations, he had dealt in at least 100 kilos of cocaine – worth in the region of £5m.
“Shea is university educated and well-spoken but along with dealing in drugs there was a much more sinister side to him. We recovered numerous firearms during our investigations, including a Scorpion machine pistol with silencer, which is a very nasty piece of kit.”
Shea most recently resurfaced when he was spotted a charity ball in Wirral’s lavish Thornton Hall Hotel in Wirral in 2015. Donning a bow-tie, Shea grinned for pictures at the £720-a-table, three-course fundraising bash.
