A boxing trainer who once filmed with iconic punditry duo Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher has been jailed for 17 years. Michael McNally, 42, threw punches at the former Manchester United defender as Carragher laughed during the filming of an Overlap episode at Liverpool's Rotunda ABC in February 2023.
At the time, each of the main podcast hosts was giving the others a tour of their hometowns. During Carragher's turn, he and Neville took a trip down memory lane in the Bootle area of Merseyside. At the start of the episode, which has since garnered over 3.2 million viewers on YouTube, the retired Liverpool defender mentioned that he had trained at that particular gym regularly - but for the trainer involved, their world has since come crashing down.
McNally, who coached world champion Tony Bellew while he was an amateur, believed his use of the encrypted EncroChat mobile network - favoured by criminals - made him untouchable. Instead, he has been found guilty of several drug charges that have resulted in a 17-year prison sentence.
Boxing Trainer Sentenced To 17 Years in Prison
The 42-year-old was jailed for 17 years this month after peddling 50kg of heroin and 200kg of cocaine, worth £18.5million. McNally's encryption software was infiltrated by international law enforcement in 2020, with millions of messages passed to UK police, including some from “LankyPanda”, as per The Sun.
These were then traced to McNally when he shared photos of police responding to a car crash outside his house in Bootle. He also revealed that he was delivering drugs using a “white Kangoo van” that was “on a 66 plate," which was later found in his garden.
When police came knocking on his property in May, they found a semi-automatic pistol in the loft with ammo, plus £23,000 in cash. McNally ultimately pleaded guilty to a string of serious offences, including conspiracy to transfer criminal property, possession of a prohibited firearm, and conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. He was subsequently jailed at Liverpool crown court on November 7.
Jon Hughes, of the National Crime Agency, said: “This operation has successfully taken a drug supplier out of the community, a dangerous weapon off the streets and cash out of the hands of criminals.”