A juror who almost derailed a £10m drugs trial when she passed on information to the gang’s leader has walked free from court.

Jade Bainbridge let drugs kingpin Daniel Perry know that the jury was on the verge of convicting him for his role in flooding the area with narcotics.

Perry was locked up for more than ten years after he was convicted of buying 'commercial amounts' of cocaine and amphetamine from the gang to sell on the streets of Teesside.

However, 27-year-old Bainbridge almost caused the trial to collapse after being contacted by Craig Osbourne, who was related to Perry, in December 2019 and they tried to persuade her to enter a not guilty verdict.

The Northern Echo: Daniel PerryDaniel Perry (Image: Cleveland Police)

Armed with the information about the jurors’ deliberations, another member of the conspiracy, Christopher Brierley, called Teesside Crown Court to tell them how he had overheard his girlfriend on the phone with a juror involved in the lengthy trial.

An investigation was launched and the juror Brierley named was quizzed by Judge Howard Crowson under oath before she was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Alex Menary, prosecuting, said a check of the court building’s CCTV caught several people speaking outside the courtroom moments before the call was made about the juror.

Eventually, Bainbridge’s phone was seized and a series of calls were recovered between the co-accused and she admitted that they had offered to respray her car if she found the defendant not guilty and persuaded others to follow suit.

Bainbridge, Perry, and Osbourne all admitted conspiring to pervert the course of justice following the conclusion of the trial in December 2019.

Mr Menary told the court that Bainbridge had been recognised by Osbourne through their shared love of cars and acted as the 'conduit' between his two co-accused.

Recorder Aisha Wadoodi said: “Perry, you had the most to gain by having the trial derailed. You have convictions for dishonesty, violence, a number of drug supply offences, firearms matter, and you have had custodial sentences before.”

Perry, formerly of Redcar, was sentenced to 28 months to be added onto the term he is already serving at HMP Northumberland.

The 38-year-old also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply amphetamine and conspiracy to possess a firearm between July 2018 and August 2021.

He will be sentenced for those offences at a later date.

Ian West, mitigating, said his client was expecting to receive a consecutive sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Miss Wadoodi said: “You Osbourne, have no prior convictions and since this offence there has been no further offending. You made full admissions in your interview.”

The Northern Echo: Craig OsbourneCraig Osbourne (Image: Cleveland Police)

Osbourne, 31, of Lobster Road, Redcar, was sentenced to 13 months for his role in the conspiracy.

Simon Walker, mitigating on his behalf, said his client acknowledges that he was the conduit between Perry and Bainbridge throughout the conspiracy.

Bainbridge, of Overdale Road, Guisborough, was given a six-month sentence suspended for 12 months and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.

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Richard Herrmann, representing the mother-of-one, said she didn’t realise that the information she was passing would be used for any ‘nefarious’ reason.

“Although not directly threatened, she did feel intimidated. She said she felt mentally tortured about what could happen if she didn’t do what was asked.”

Sentencing her, the judge said: “Your position is very different from the other two. I was very, very serious but I don’t accept that you didn’t realise the implications of what you did.”

The court heard how Brierley was jailed in February 2020 for making the phone call to the court.