Face of mum who was caught 'red-handed' on her bed in major £1.4m bust

The face of a 'frail' mum who helped her criminal family run a £1.4m drugs ring has been revealed.

Pieces of the crime operation were cracked after Gillian Melville was caught 'red handed' by police sitting on a bed next to a pile of cash. Her son, Alan Causer, led an organised crime group responsible for trafficking hundreds of kilos of heroin and cocaine across the country, it would later be revealed.

Melville's husband, Ian Shacklady, was also involved in the drug-dealing conspiracy. Officers discovered nearly £500,000 in cash when they raided the couple's home in Skelmersdale.

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The 'frail and vulnerable' mum, 66, was caught 'red handed' sitting on a bed next to a pile of cash by the cops. But this was just 'the tip of the iceberg', Liverpool Crown Court heard.

Melville, of Marchbank, in Skelmersdale, was convicted for possession of criminal property and sentenced to 23 months in prison. But, a judge chose to suspend this meaning she wasn't jailed alongside her son and husband. The National Crime Agency has now shared the photo taken of Melville when the criminal empire her partner and son had built came crashing down on September 15, 2021, Lancs Live reports.

The investigation by specialist Merseyside Organised Crime Partnership (OCP) proved the discovery of cash at her home was only a proportion of the total amount made by the group. The family and their criminal associates had been trading millions of pounds worth of class A drugs, including heroin, cannabis and hundreds of kilos of cocaine.

Two ledgers were found at the address, containing lists consistent with the supply of at least