By Greta Simpson,Wesley Holmes

Copyright manchestereveningnews

An organised crime boss who made thousands selling illegal firearms to Merseyside gangsters has been jailed for 26 years after Encrochat logs revealed he was planning an acid attack on a rival. Philip Waugh, 40, asked known “Deli mob” enforcer Jonathan Gordon to throw acid in the face of rival Nathan Simpson, saying: “Just need him blind and face melted”. Waugh, originally from Warrington, offered Gordon £20,000 to blind both Simpson and his girlfriend, telling him: “Acid him and bird proper… Blind em both.” Join our Court and Crime WhatsApp group HERE He later added: “Stab him in legs and rub acid all over his face. In his eyes proper.” Liverpool Crown Court heard today (September 26) how Waugh used the encrypted network Encrochat to organise his criminal activities, the Liverpool Echo reported. Using the handles TeflonWool and AceProspect, he and fellow gangster Robert Brazendale supplied guns to customers from various organised crime groups between March and June 2020. From Spain, Waugh arranged for the guns to be smuggled into the UK, where they would be picked up by his “trusted quartermaster” Brazendale, 38. On April 4, 2020, he messaged his customers to say he would soon have a collection of firearms arriving in the country. The following day he sent a list of available guns with price tags attached. This was followed, on April 11, by a list of 10 successfully imported firearms with ammunition, which was shared among 181 Encrochat users. Prosecutor Alex Leach, at Liverpool Crown Court, said “intense commercial demand (was) generated by Philip Waugh’s list”. A number of sales were arranged with the help of Brazendale and Darren Herlihy , a firearms and heroin dealer using the handle JerryCoke. Mr Leach said: “Philip Waugh and Robert Brazendale were aware that they were engaged in a conspiracy to transfer firearms to and from Jonathan Gordon, who was using those firearms to conduct shootings in residential areas of Liverpool. “During the same period, they were also engaged in a conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm against Nathan Simpson. “It is clear that Philip Waugh was recruiting Jonathan Gordon to conduct a number of organised criminal attacks, for their collective commercial gain. “It is also clear that Philip Waugh also relied upon Robert Brazendale to act a quartermaster for Jonathan Gordon – in this instance supplying him with acid with which to attack Nathan Simpson.” Waugh offered Gordon £6,000 for the acid attack, upping the offer to £10,000 if he blinded him. The pair plotted the attack over several days, exchanging multiple Encrochat texts. By April 12, Waugh “was still determined to see the attack carried out”, telling Gordon: “Bro I really need this kid doing. He’s giving info to wizz now. He needs never be able type on these again”, adding: “Maybe stab him bro as well in leg”. He continued to message Gordon about the planned acid attack on Simpson until May 21, saying on one occasion: “Stab him in legs and rub acid all over his face”. However, no attack was ultimately carried out. Operation Venetic, a National Crime Agency investigation into the Encrochat network, led to the arrest of Waugh at a villa he rented in Benahavis, Malaga, in September 2024. He was extradited to the UK and brought to Liverpool Crown Court, where he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to fraudulently evade the prohibition on the importation of prohibited weapons, conspiracy to transfer prohibited weapons, possessing a prohibited weapon, and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm. Brazendale, formerly of Edward Street in Oldham , pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transfer prohibited weapons, possessing a prohibited weapon, and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm. Oliver Cook, defending Waugh, said the 40-year-old had arranged the acid attack on the instructions of a third party. He said: “He doesn’t go behind the messages sent and received in respect of count 10 (the planned attack). They are plain. “He doesn’t seek to diminish the seriousness of these messages. It’s relevant that no attack was actually carried out and no injuries was actually caused. “It’s also relevant that that attempt ended in 2020 and there has been no attack or attempt to attack Nathan Simpson in the intervening period between 2020 and Waugh’s arrest in 2024.” He said Waugh, a father of two, was “not at the top of the hierarchy” in the firearms trade, but accepted he played a leading role. He said: “At the time of the offending Waugh was suffering from the cumulative effects of long standing emotional regulation and PTSD – albeit they had been treated by 2020 – and underlying conditions of ADHD and a history of trauma. “These are serious offences. It doesn’t excuse or extinguish his culpability. But we do see he was impaired, to an extent, to function, to exercise control and to perceive consequences.” Ian McMeekins, defending Brazendale, said his client had a lready served four years of a 10-year sentence relating to gun sales in 2022. He said: “He’s had a period of rehabilitation. He has had four years in prison, and he has demonstrated that he can respond to his serious crimes. The person that left prison was different from the one that went in. “I have no doubt that the nature of the offences themselves lead to the conclusion that this must be a person who poses a risk to the public in future. “But the defendant in this case is his had that period to reflect, to prove himself within the prison system and, to an extent, in the community.” Judge Andrew Menary said: “Without Encrochat, the scale of your criminality would likely have never been uncovered. Between January 2019 and July 2020 you Waugh, in Spain, managed the importation of at least 16 prohibited firearms, including pistols, assault rifles and submachine guns. “You were the leading man behind this conspiracy at the time. You, Brazendale, based in Warrington, acted as his quartermaster in the UK.” He said the pair had profited greatly from their actions, flogging just one gun shipment for more than £215,000 total. £17,000 was seized from Brazendale, and €44,000 was seized from Waugh in Spain. The judge said: “It must be highlighted gun crime remains a grave and deeply troubling issue. Sadly Liverpool’s violent crime rate exceeds the national average. “Against that background, the part played by each of you in the possession, transfer and supply of firearms is particularly serious. “Despite knowing full well the potential for these weapons to be used to kill, you continued to supply them in a calculated and deliberate way. “Your actions were not impulsive or naïve. They were sustained. This was a commercial business carried out with full knowledge of the risks and consequences.” Turning to the planned attack on Nathan Simpson, he said: “This was not idle talk, but a carefully planned attack and the conversations and deeply concerning. “You Waugh were approached by a third party, you are asked to arrange for Nathan Simpson to be attacked with acid, and so you turned to Jonathan Gordon and you recruited him to carry out the job. “On April 6, you Brazendale played your part. You provided the weapon to be used and though you may not have had privy to the details, a moment’s reflection would have told you that very serious harm was the inevitable result. “The fact that this didn’t culminate in the victim being scarred for life does not diminish the commission of what you intended and prepared for.” He sentenced Philip Waugh to a total of 26 years and eight months in prison, with an extended licence of five years due to dangerousness, making a total 31 years and eight months. Taking into account Brazendale’s 10-year sentence made in 2022, he sentenced him to a total of 11 years and four months in prison, with an extended licence of four years due to dangerousness, making a total of 15 years and four months. He said: “In relation to the proposed acid attack, you were each prepared to play a part in the most dreadful offence of violence, which if carried out would have caused horrific injuries. And you both were prepared to play a part in that without any hesitation at all. “You are two people willing to trade in serious firearms. And so I’m afraid I remain of the view that each of you is a significant risk.”