Female ex-professional footballer who turned drug boss and smuggled cash out of UK stuffed down her trousers after Covid destroyed her businesses must pay up £70,000 or serve an extra eight months in jail
- Drug gang member Faye Dunn, 39, was jailed last year and owes £70,000
- Read more: Female ex-professional footballer who turned drug kingpin jailed
A former professional footballer who turned drug baron has been ordered to pay back £70,000 of her criminal gains, or face an extra eight months in prison.
Mother Faye Dunn, 39, was jailed for three years and nine months last year after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cannabis and money laundering after finally being apprehended at Manchester Airport.
The 39-year-old was ordered on Friday to repay her ill-gotten gains during a hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act at Liverpool Crown Court.
Nicola Daley, prosecuting, told the court that the defence counsel had agreed that Dunn had benefited to the tune of £152,953.96 from her involvement in organised crime.
Dunn’s current available assets meanwhile stand at £69,747.70, the bulk of which comprises £64,000 of equity in a house on Birkdale Close in Huyton, alongside a Peugeot 1007 valued at £1,085 and nearly £2,000 of jewellery.
Faye Dunn, 39, was jailed for three years and nine months last year after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cannabis and money laundering
Nicola Daley, prosecuting, told the court that Dunn had benefited to the tune of £152,953.96 from her involvement in organised crime
Small sums held on cryptocurrency platform Coinbase, a bank account, a pension and an investment fund must also be forfeited.
Read more: Female ex-professional footballer who turned drug kingpin when Covid-19 destroyed her business faces losing her homes and cars after she made £1m by smuggling cannabis
The former professional footballer, who was not present during the hearing but was represented by Catherine Collins, was given three months to pay the near £70,000 figure by Judge Anil Murray.
She will otherwise face an additional eight months in prison in default.
Dunn once boasted a portfolio of companies across a range of sectors and enjoyed an impressive sporting career. One highlight of her time in football came 20 years ago as a promising teenager playing for England at youth level.
Dunn, then 18, helped her team qualify for the semi-finals of the UEFA European Women’s U19 Championship.
She netted goals during two of the Lionesses’ group games during the tournament, against Denmark and Switzerland.
The box-to-box midfielder also turned out for Tranmere Rovers before joining Leeds United in 2003.
After hanging up her boots, Dunn – a well-known figure in the Huyton area – set up community interest company Onside Sports Academy, which aimed to support young footballers released from pro clubs back into employment.
The former professional footballer, who was not present during the hearing but was represented by Catherine Collins, was given three months to pay the near £70,000 figure
Police who cracked the encrypted EncroChat network discovered messages between the father and daughter, pictured, which showed their links to the drugs trade
Her father, Michael, pictured left, received a two-year suspended sentence after he also pleaded guilty to his role in the smuggling operation. A judge said he was suspending the sentence as a ‘measure of mercy’
This was one of several directorships she would go on to hold, including interests in a legal firm and a recruitment company. Her empire also extended to a restaurant, a popular children’s play centre and an epoxy resin flooring business in Spain.
Dunn’s footballing career
At 18, helped her England team qualify for the semi-finals of the UEFA European Women’s U19 Championship.
She netted goals during two of the Lionesses’ group games during the tournament, against Denmark and Switzerland.
The ‘box-to-box midfielder’ turned out for Tranmere Rovers before joining Leeds United in 2003.
One documented appearance for the former came after she bagged a hattrick against Southampton in November 2000, although Dunn was sent off while facing Doncaster Belles in March 2002.
She was later interviewed by Leeds ahead of a game with her former side. She said of the upcoming clash: ‘I enjoyed my time at Tranmere and always look out for their results, but I am a Leeds player now and we will all be going out determined to try to get three points for Leeds United Ladies.’
But the mother-of-two’s fortunes turned in 2020 when Covid-19 saw her companies falter.
Becoming sucked into the criminal underworld, she operated under the handle ‘StiffNinja’ on the encrypted communications platform EncroChat before it was discovered by police.
Messages revealed that she had ‘involvement in the supply and production of cannabis’, being described as an ‘accountant for an organised criminal enterprise’.
Dunn also smuggled cash to Spain, boarding a Portsmouth to Santander ferry with money hidden in her trousers.
Ms Daley told the court during her sentencing in September 2022: ‘She played an operational role within the drugs supply chain but appeared to have significant influence upon others in the chain, facilitating meetings between criminal associates in relation to the supply of controlled drugs, and also instructed others to undertake tasks such as the collection and movement of packages of both drugs and cash.
‘Significantly, she appears to have acted as the accountant for the organised criminal enterprise and has concealed not only her EncroChat device but also cash when travelling abroad in order to evade detection by the authorities.’
Dunn, of Walpole Avenue in Whiston, was eventually arrested at Manchester Airport in June last year.
She later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cannabis and money laundering.
The fallen entrepreneur – described as ‘intelligent, resourceful, kind, loving, generous and sadly flawed’ – tearfully wailed ‘I can’t believe it’ as she was led down to the cells, having been imprisoned for three years and nine months.
Sentencing, Judge David Potter said: ‘It is a tragedy to see a young woman facing a sentence of imprisonment after leading a life full of past and continuing achievements.’
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