Corby cocaine suppliers Darren Lafferty and Ted Shephard admit conspiracy that saw plotters meet at Corby Town FC

Two men from Corby and two from Wisbech have pleaded guilty to their parts in a plot to supply Class-A drugs.

A trial had been due to get under way on Monday morning (December 4) at Northampton Crown Court, where the four were due to answer charges centred around a conspiracy to supply cocaine in Corby when the country was in the grip of the Covid pandemic in October and November 2020.

Darren Jason Lafferty of York Road, Corby; Edward (Ted) James Shephard of Babbage Crescent, Corby; and James Davis, 33, and Marcus Brown, 65, both of High Road, Guyhirn, Wisbech were originally charged back in February 2021 but have consistently denied their involvement at every court hearing since then.

Their co-defendant Alex McConnell pleaded guilty to the conspiracy in April of that year and was jailed for ten years.

But on Monday, before the trial could start, Ted Shephard – who part-owns Corby Town FC’s The Clubhouse bar alongside club director Paul Glass – changed his plea.

Shephard, 39, has been on bail while the case has been progressing through the court and has continued to run the bar, despite the seriousness of the charges. The court heard he had previous convictions for actual bodily harm, affray and driving matters. His Honour Judge David Herbert KC ordered a pre-sentence report be written for Shephard.

His surprise plea was given a frosty reception by the other defendants who had expected to be starting a three-week trial.

Then, after a jury had been sworn in, yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon Lafferty and Brown also changed their pleas, admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine. Davis had already admitted possession of cocaine with intent to supply and prosecutors accepted his plea and allowed his conspiracy charge to lie on file.

Jobbing builder Lafferty, 50, is a former armed robber who claimed to have turned his life around when he raised thousands to install defibrillators around Corby in memory of his young son who died nine years ago at Studfall Juniors.

He arrived at court in a £175,000 Aston Martin DBX V8 and fully kitted-out in designer clothing.

Brown, 65, was jailed for 16 years in 2009 for masterminding a plot to smuggle a million pounds worth of drugs into the UK in a light aircraft. He was released early but was recalled to prison when he was charged with the Corby conspiracy and is currently in HMP Five Wells.

Although no details of the conspiracy were revealed in court yesterday, at McConnell’s sentencing hearing two years ago the court was told that the he had boasted on the secret network EncroChat that he had a 'team' in Corby, a 'straight' partner with links to Corby Town Football Club, and contacts in Dubai and South America.

That court heard that McConnell was said to have driven into Corby Town FC's ground, and gone into The Clubhouse building where communications about the conspiracy are said to have taken place.

Lafferty, who served half of his ten-year jail term for armed robbery in Peterborough, was told to expect a prison term when the four men return to court in the new year for sentencing.