10 men including John ‘Goldfinger’ Palmer’s son-in-law jailed for roles in extortion, drug dealing and blackmail gang.

A relative of Bristol gangster John ‘Goldfinger’ Palmer was jailed today for conspiracy to blackmail local businessmen as part of an extortion racket by an organised crime group operating in the south west.

Andrew ‘Ginge’ Wylde, 50, was described by the prosecution as “the pleasant face” of the conspiracy with two others. But he also threatened victims that “geezers from London” would pay them a visit if they didn’t cough up.

Ginge, a second-hand car dealer, is married by common law to Palmer’s daughter Elle, who cried as he was sentenced to 26 months at Bristol Crown court.

The couple were about to move to Essex where Palmer lived, when he was assassinated in the garden of his mansion in 2015. The murder remains unsolved, and is the latest in a long line of killings of key figures associated with the iconic £26m Brinks Mat gold bullion robbery in 1983. Palmer ran a gold smelting business, Scadlyn Ltd, in Bedminster, Bristol which the police suspected was used to disguise the gold bars from the heist at Heathrow Airport.

Palmer moved to Tenerife and was later convicted for running a crooked multi-million pound timeshare business built on terror and fraud. He also had well established links with Russian organised crime.

Ginge told the Cable that after Palmer’s murder there had been a major falling out between Elle and her mother and they no longer spoke.

“Geezers from London”

Ginge traded on his father-in-law’s reputation to bolster an illegal debt collection “business” run by two associates, Andrew Baker, 52 and Adam Hoddinott, 48. The court heard that Ginge acted as the peacemaker, urging victims to pay his co-conspirators to avoid a beating.

Andrew Wallace, one of the victims of the blackmail conspiracy, told the court that Ginge had gatecrashed his birthday celebrations in July 2017 at the Kendleshire golf club demanding money on behalf of a subcontractor.

Wallace refused to come off the golf course and meet Ginge’s co-conspirators who were waiting nearby. Wallace told the court that Ginge approached him at the golf club’s car park and said, “You know I’m married to Palmer’s daughter.”

At the time of his arrest, Ginge had a car garage in the Cheltenham New Road, which he claimed turned over £320,000. During the trial Ginge claimed the reference to “geezers from London” was not about gangsters but a suggestion that the businessman could bring lawyers from the capital.

He said:

“I was just asked [by Baker] to have a word and I had a word, nothing to do with [threats]’.

However the prosecution ranked Baker as “the organiser”, Ginge “the face” and Hoddinott “the muscle.”

Ginge and prosecutor David Scutt locked horns during a testy cross-examination. Afterwards, Ginge told the Cable that he “tore him a new arsehole”. But Ginge’s barrister tried to repair the damage describing her client as “larger than life”. Anjali Gohil told the jury, “Wylde may not be wise, he may not chose his friends with care. He chose not to grass on them, he was simply used by them.”

Avon & Somerset detectives mounted a covert operation in 2017 after businessmen reported threats.