Gangland armourer jailed for 26 years over EncroChat gun sales and acid-attack plot

Philip Waugh, a 40-year-old gangland armourer from Warrington, was jailed for 26 years and eight months after admitting a range of firearms offences and conspiring to inflict grievous bodily harm in which he instructed an associate to throw acid in a victim’s face. The sentence was reduced by a third because of his guilty pleas, a deduction prosecutors said reflected cooperation with investigators.

Investigators traced a string of EncroChat messages dating back to 2020 in which Waugh, who used the handle AceProspect, offered automatic and semi-automatic weapons to Britain’s criminal bosses. Prosecutors said he marketed a farm of military-grade arms, including AK-47 assault rifles, a Cold War–style Skorpion machine gun, an Uzi, and a host of pistols, along with hundreds of rounds of ammunition. The National Crime Agency (NCA) said Waugh armed organised crime groups across the United Kingdom through a network that extended beyond Britain’s shores. Authorities first became aware of the plot in 2020, but initially struggled to identify him beyond his EncroChat alias. A series of messages recovered by investigators showed Waugh discussing logistics and weapon transfers with associates.

Among the chats, Waugh plotted with Jonathan Gordon, a hitman linked to Liverpool’s Deli Mob, to blind a Warrington man named Nathan Simpson with acid. In one exchange Gordon, who used the alias 'Valuedbridge', replied that he would ensure Mr Simpson received the “full face wash” for £10,000. The plan was not carried out, as police intercepted Gordon on the day the attack was due to take place and seized his car as he fled therefrom. The acid plot—documented in recreations of the EncroChat chats—illustrated the level of violence Waugh instructed on his associates.

The NCA’s investigation into EncroChat and its Venetic operation, which led to the platform’s takedown, was a central thread in the Channel 4 documentary Operation Dark Phone, aired earlier this year. The documentary traced how Venetic helped authorities uncover the identity of AceProspect and others who trafficked firearms to criminal networks across the UK.

Waugh lived for a time in Thailand and had been based in Spain when Thai authorities alerted UK officials that he had left the country for Europe. The NCA and the Spanish National Police then moved on him at a rented villa in Benahavís, Málaga, in September last year. He was extradited to the United Kingdom and appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on April 11, where he admitted a range of firearms offences and a count of conspiring to inflict grievous bodily harm. His sentence included a deduction for guilty pleas.

His right-hand man, Robert Brazendale, 38, was central to the operation’s trafficking. Brazendale took possession of firearms and supplied them to customers from various organised crime groups. He was jailed for 11 years and three months in February 2022 for transferring firearms, a term later reduced to 10 years on appeal, and was subsequently sentenced to 11 years and four months for new firearms offences and conspiracy to inflict grievous bodily harm. He also admitted conspiring to inflict GBH on the same victim.

Ben Rutter, a senior investigating officer with the NCA, said Waugh’s sentencing reflects the extent of the investigation’s work: "Waugh’s sentencing is extremely welcome and is the result of huge amounts of work by NCA officers who persisted tirelessly for five years to trace, locate and bring him to justice under Operation Venetic. Waugh only cared about making a lot of money. He supplied an array of automatic and semi-automatic weaponry to offenders who were planning horrific crimes and had no regard for public safety. He didn't care at all about who might be killed in the process. The NCA and policing partners went into overdrive when we discovered Waugh's gun list, doing everything possible to find and seize them. We will continue to do everything we can with partners at home and abroad to prevent organised crime groups trafficking firearms."