SEVERAL police officers took to the witness stand at Liverpool Crown Court today, to give evidence against former Northwich Victoria owner Jim Rushe, who is accused of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

Rushe, 54, of Runcorn Road, Runcorn, appeared on the fourth day of the trial alongside co-defendants Mark Fishwick, 46, of Greencroft, in Preston, and Andrew Fetherstone, 47, of Barnard Road, in Manchester.

All three men have denied a charge of conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Officers were undercover while a meeting at Mascrat Manor pub in Warrington took place between Rushe, Fishwick and Paul Berry, 47, of Abbey Walk, Preston, who pleaded guilty to his part in the conspiracy at an earlier hearing.

They gave their accounts of what they overheard there on February 27, 2015 – a meeting that happened in the weeks leading up to Berry’s known couriers dropping off a ‘package’ claimed by the defence to be a television set-top box, at Karting 2000, in Manchester, formerly owned by Rushe.

The sequence of events also details the police seizure of quarter of a kilo of cocaine, which the prosecution argue was being couriered to Fishwick.

Sgt Nicholas Hughes said: “Within two or three minutes of arriving at the pub Mr Berry left, and the conversation went from being quite jovial to more serious.

“As I recall, Mr Rushe was leading the conversation and they were discussing Mr Berry, pointing to the spot where he had been seated, and discussing whether he could be trusted.

“Mr Rushe stated that it was a risk but if Mr Fishwick was happy, he’s prepared to go along with it.” 

Sgt Hughes went on to read out ‘snippets’ of further overheard speech, including the men discussing ‘four on bail’ and ‘11 in Spain’ as well as claiming that Rushe said ‘someone wants 18 if they are still available.’

Rushe’s defending barrister, Barry Grennan, said: “I’m going to suggest that the conversation was exclusively about football after they had discussed whether the man who had just left could be trusted.

“Days before then Gareth Bale, who plays in Spain, had played in the Champions League for Real Madrid.

"He also wears number 11. You heard snippets of snippets of the conversation.”

The jury also heard claims from DC Scott and DC Robinson that Fishwick had ‘volunteered’ information including the identity of Rushe while alone with the two officers.

They claimed that after answering predominantly ‘no comment’ in his police interview following his arrest on June 25, 2015, he began to talk ‘as soon as he got in the car’ to be given a lift home.

DC Robinson said: “He said that the other male who was in the pub was a man called Jim who was the chairman of Northwich Victoria Football Club.

"Up until that point, Mr Rushe had not been identified as the third person in the Mascrat Manor.”

Fishwick’s defending barrister, Robin Kitching, argued that the officers encouraged his client to talk in the car and said this went against police interview procedure outlined in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.

Mr Kitching said: “You interviewed the Mr Fishwick at the police station for two hours, where he answered 'no comment' to questions. You then offered him a lift home.

“If this was an interview, there are certain rules and safeguards in place.

"One of the reasons for these safeguards is to stop police officers putting words in suspects’ mouths.”

The trial continues.