Drug lord 'CapeRocket' struck off as registered mental health nurse

A North West drug lord whose gang supplied cocaine and heroin to Manchester and other parts of the UK has been struck off as a registered mental health nurse.

Alan Tobin, then 52, and his gang flooded the country with hundreds of kilos of cocaine. He was jailed for 20 years at Liverpool Crown Court in April 2021 for two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and two counts of conspiracy to supply Class B drugs, operating under the EncroChat alias of 'CapeRocket'.

Their drug empire came crashing down when police seized £20m worth of cocaine from a van on the M6 motorway - the largest seizure ever on land in the UK. Other gang members were also jailed.

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On Monday (August 1) a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) fitness to practise committee held a "virtual hearing" to consider whether Tobin’s fitness to practise was “impaired” as a result of his convictions. The NMC struck him off as a registered mental health nurse and imposed an interim suspension of 18 months to cover Tobin’s opportunity to launch an appeal within 28 days of the striking-off order. The session took place supported with advice from a legal assessor, Liverpool Echo reports.

In its findings report, the NMC panel said Tobin, of Regency Park, Widnes, registered as a qualified mental health nurse in 2009, and was employed by Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust at the time of his arrest on September 9, 2020, during a series of warrants executed by Cheshire Police. The report’s author said Tobin’s demise followed “an 18-month investigation into an organised crime group responsible for supplying Class A and Class B drugs throughout England and Scotland”.

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