CCTV footage shown to a jury allegedly shows a man meeting with a cocaine kingpin before he was arrested and jailed for 21 years, a trial has heard.

Mark Hickford, 51, and Liam Field, 26, are standing trial accused of being ‘downstream customers’ of two brothers who last year were found guilty of sourcing kilos of cocaine into the UK.

They are standing trial at Oxford Crown Court charged with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

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Brothers Richard and Patrick Gray were jailed in the summer of 2022 after police swooped in on the gang in May, raiding properties in Oxford, Witney, Banbury, and Milton Keynes.

Officers seized 2.5kg of high-purity cocaine and around £110,000 in cash.

The trial heard on Tuesday (January 23) that Hickford allegedly met Richard Gray at Beaconsfield Service Station on April 21, 2021.

CCTV footage showed Gray in a white Fiat Doblo van.

The prosecution’s case is that Hickford is inside the services buying food from M&S before coming out to the van.

It is alleged that Hickford gets into the van with Gray and can be seen ‘gesticulating’ from the passenger seat.

The jury heard that multiple phone calls were also exchanged between Hickford and Gray throughout the day.

Prosecutor Lisa Goddard read out police surveillance which was carried out on Gray throughout that month.

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The officer stated he saw Gray at Warwick North service station carrying a lack man bag which was ‘bulging’.

He was seen entering the toilets before buying food from KFC and leaving the station to sit back in his Doblo van.

He then missed a call from Hickford before he returned the call on an unregistered number.

The jury then heard move evidence about Gray’s mobile exchanges, including his use of EncroChat, an encrypted message software, to seemingly message customers and couriers.

However, it is believed Hickford did not use this software.

Gray’s former partner, Melissa Grant, 33, is also on trial charged with possession of criminal property, namely £44,315 in cash.

A trial in 2022 heard that the brothers sent couriers to Preston and Bury to pick up kilos of cocaine at a time.

The jury were shown a text where Gray told Grant he may need to stay in Manchester overnight before he later changes his mind and states he will get ‘an early night’ and stay at home.

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Grant replied: “Are you staying up north then?”

Hickman, of Hartford Road, in Edmonton, Field, of Swindon, and Grant, of Barley Court, Witney, all deny their involvement.

The trial continues.