- Christine Fitzgibbon, 60, schooled sons Jason and Ian as gangsters
- Family ran heroin and ecstasy empire from home in Mossley Hill, Liverpool
- Police placed a bug in the house to gather evidence
- Heard brothers arguing about who was the better gangster
- Christine was still claiming 1,500 a month in benefits when she was caught
By James Tozer
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Matriarch: Christine Fitzgibbon, 60, trained her two sons Jason and Ian to build an untouchable crime empire in which heroin was smuggled into the UK from all corners of the world
A grandmother has been unmasked as an underworld matriarch who coached her two sons into building an international crime empire - while her family was shamelessly claiming 1,500-a-month in benefits.
Christine Fitzgibbon, 60, schooled sons Jason and Ian as budding gangsters from their early teens, then lived off the proceeds of their global drug-dealing network.
Secret recordings exposed how the grandmother-of-seven continued to keep a close eye on the violent pair, who regarded themselves as 'untouchable'.
One was told off for turning up at the family home in a brand-new Porsche, while she booked their flights to meet suppliers and even advised them on exchange rates so they weren't ripped off by continental drug barons.
Officers compared Christine to the domineering Violet Kray who brought up Ronnie and Reggie in East End of London.
The tapes which finally brought the Fitzgibbon clan to justice also captured Jason, 40, boasting he was 'ten times better' at being a gangster than his 39-year-old brother and singing along to the Jessie J song 'Price Tag'.
Yesterday their mother was branded the company secretary of the feared 'Fitzgibbon Plc' crime family as the gang were jailed for a total of more than 44 years over a plot to flood the UK with drugs worth 64million imported from Turkey.
She lived in an unremarkable detached house in Liverpool but enjoyed holidays at their luxurious €330,500 villa in Spain and had numerous overseas bank accounts.
When police raided the house, they found another 180,000 hidden under the floor of one of the bedrooms, with more in a hollow table leg in the dining room.
And yet Mrs Fitzgibbon and her husband were also claiming 1,500 a month in state handouts, including disability benefits.
Groomed to be gangsters: Jason Fitzgibbon, left, and his brother Ian, right, operated a global drug-dealing network with their mother Christine acting as company secretary
Unremarkable: The detached home in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, from where the Fitzgibbon family built up a crime empire they thought was 'untouchable'
Detectives from the elite Serious Organised Crime Agency sneaked an electronic listening device into the family's three bedroom house in Mossley Hill and secretly bugged Mrs Fitzgibbon as she boasted of her son's crimes.
They finally rounded up the family after a series of raids last year having uncovered a plot by Jason and Ian to flood the UK with drugs imported from Turkey.
The boys' father, William, now 65, began his criminal career when he was just 14 with burglaries and car thefts, and their mother ensured they would follow in his footsteps.
As young teenagers she oversaw protection rackets they ran to extort money from local businesses, later moving on to shoplifting and car theft.
They grew up to be feared hardmen setting up drug deals in Holland, Spain and Colombia, living in modest houses but driving flash cars.
But when one turned up at the family house in a brand new Porsche, his mother snapped: 'You're bringing unwanted attention to yourself - don't go driving fast cars.' In 2000 Jason and Ian were convicted of conspiracy to supply heroin and were jailed for eight and seven years respectively.
Cash dumped: Police found 180,000 of drugs money stashed under the floorboards at the Fitzgibbon family home
No shame: Despite helping her two sons run a drugs empire, Christine Fitzgibbon was receiving 1,500 a month in benefits
After their release they were arrested in Holland over a 1million heroin haul, but cleared over phone tap evidence, returning to the UK convinced they were 'untouchable', detectives say.
Christine Fitzgibbon managed the entire network like a legitimate company secretary, according to police, booking multiple flights for each trip in a bid to throw detectives off their scent and even advising them on the latest exchange rates.
In one family exchange bugged by police, she said to Jason 'You've not done a day's work in your life', to which he replied: 'You got us into this mum.'
A life of crime: Cash courier Neil WIlliams, left, was locked up for 21 months for his part in the conspiracy while enforcer Danie Smith, right, was caught in Turkey with 7million of heroin
In another, father-of-three Jason brags that he's the more successful gangster, boasting: 'Whatever he can do mum, I can do ten times better.'
He was also taped singing 'It's all about the money' to the tune of Jessie J.
When bisexual Jason was held in a police swoop over a 100,000 cash seizure, she was heard silencing Ian as he asked whether she thought his brother would 'get away with it'.
'It depends what they've hit him with, doesn't it?' she retorts, adding: 'Just hope it wasn't what I give him yesterday. It's a good job I took that f****** thing out of the house, wasn't it?'
The crime empire began to crumble in 2011 when officers from the Turkish police swooped on a drug deal and found 57kg of heroin worth 7million which was linked to the Fitzgibbons.
Crumbling empire: The Fitzbiggons' operation began to unravel when the Turkish Army caught one of their associates with 7million of heroin in 2011
Caught out: Daniel Smith, 26, was found with 57kg of heroin linked to the Fitzgibbons clan in Turkey
Busted: Smith was jailed for ten years for conspiracy to supply heroin
Jason had already been jailed for a separate punishment beating of a car dealer.
At Manchester Crown Court yesterday, their mother admitted money laundering and was jailed for two years.
Father of three Ian admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and Ecstasy and money laundering and was jailed for 14 and a half years, while Jason admitted conspiracy to import heroin and money laundering and received a 16 year sentence.
Enforcer Daniel Smith, 26, was given ten years for conspiracy while fellow gang member Neil Williams, 32, also of Liverpool, was jailed for 21 months after admitting money laundering.
The case against Neil Harrison, 40, was adjourned and laundering charges against William Fitzgibbon were allowed to lie on file.
Being watched - A surveillance picture of Jason Fitzgibbon - police placed a listening device in the family's home in Mossley Hill, Liverpool
Hub of the empire: The interior of the family home in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, from where the Fitzgibbons ran their drug-dealing business
Deals: Jason Fitzgibbon is pictured in a black t-shirt after arriving back from a trip to Turkey to buy drugs
Jailing Mrs Fitzgibbon, Judge Michael Henshell told her she was a 'dominant figure' in the criminal enterprise.
'You knew precisely what you were involved in, you knew precisely where the money was coming from and you enjoyed the lifestyle that went along with it,' he added.
Afterwards Matt Burton, head of investigations at SOCA, said: 'Christine was the matriarch of a crime family running a criminal business engaged in violence and intimidation.
'She resolved internal disputes - in fact everything revolved around her.
'The home was the hub for their enterprise - it was where the criminal enterprise was born and where they would conduct business.'
Sure, she is!!! duh
- masha , scotland, United Kingdom, 14/6/2013 22:23
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