The crucial mistake that caused downfall of ruthless gang who tortured drug dealer to death in quiet cul-de-sac

Planned with military precision, the plot to attack and torture Thomas Campbell could have easily remained unsolved today.

Despite leaving his bloodstains all over the hallway of his £350,000 townhouse, and ransacking the bedrooms, the gang who trussed up the 38-year-old and abandoned him to die left almost no clues.

Yet a moment of inspiration from a police CCTV analyst was to smash the wall of secrecy – and put four dangerous people behind bars. 

They include drug dealer John Belfield, 31, who has been given a life sentence for Campbell’s murder, serving at least 37 years behind bars for murder and conspiracy to rob as he plotted to rob his rival of drugs.

At just after 11pm on July 2, 2022, Thomas Campbell returned home to Mossley, Greater Manchester in his van.

Having been released from prison after being convicted of money laundering over his suspected involvement in East Manchester’s cocaine trade, the tattooed bodybuilder was no stranger to the criminal underworld.

But having only moved into the property after splitting from his wife Coleen – who had been spared jail over the same offence – he may have been confident that potential enemies would not know where he lived.

So an unfamiliar van parked on his next door neighbour’s drive apparently did not ring any alarm bells.

The heavily-built father-of-two stood no chance as three men leapt out of the van, slashing at him with a blade and overpowering him.

During a fierce struggle captured on a neighbour’s CCTV he was bundled inside before being subjected to a horrific and ultimately fatal torture session.

Mr Campbell suffered 61 separate injuries during the two-hour session of violence, which also saw him robbed of drugs, cash and valuables.

He was stabbed, punched and stamped on before boiling water was poured on his buttocks.

Neighbours found his bloodied and mutilated body in the hallway the following morning, naked except for his socks and trussed up with extra-strength duct tape.

After police were called, the property was combed by forensics teams.

Yet no trace of fingerprints, DNA or hair fibres were found.

The trio had taken with them both the hard drive of the home CCTV system and the Ring doorbell from the front porch.

As they learned the victim had died of his horrific injuries, the gang set about disguising the Vauxhall Combo van in which they had driven to and from the crime scene.

Hidden in a dealership forecourt and disguised with false number plates, it has never been traced, MailOnline understands. 

So who were the murder gang, and how had they tracked him down?

Locating Mr Campbell had been a challenge for the ‘mastermind’ behind the attack, fellow drug dealer John Belfield.

The successful career criminal had vowed revenge on his love rival for sleeping with his ex-girlfriend, Demi-Lee Driver.

A key source of intelligence about where Mr Campbell was living was someone who would never have been expected even by close family.

Coleen Campbell had secretly turned against her cocaine kingpin ex-husband over his alleged cheating.

It was she who tipped Belfield off about his movements, even to the extent of confirming his new address with her daughter.

But initially she successfully avoided arousing suspicion following his brutal killing.

Posing as a grieving ex-partner, the shop assistant turned beautician posted a series of ‘tributes’ featuring broken heart emojis and warm words.

One read: ’13 years and 2 beautiful children. Forever great full [sic].

‘I would do anything to hear your giddy laugh or your none [sic] stop moaning just one more time.’

Faced with a blank slate from the forensics team, detectives focused their attention on the grainy footage of the victim being ambushed on his driveway.

As they pored over the violent clip, something else caught the eye of an analyst.

One of the gang reappeared 25 minutes later and briefly stooped beneath Mr Campbell’s parked van.

At the same time there was a flash of light from a torch or mobile phone.

It led to a hunch – had they placed a tracker on the vehicle to follow his movements?

And was it removed once he had been overpowered to cover their tracks?

An officer rang a likely tracker firm – and within the hour confirmation came back that it was ‘in the Peak Forest Canal, still switched on’.

Police immediately searched the canal – and while they never found the tracker, what they did discover was even more important.

From its depths they found a mobile phone which had been ‘bent’ in an effort to destroy the data it contained.

Specialist officers were able to establish that the handset had been central to the plot, with a series of incriminating messages recovered.

Also nearby police found crucial evidence including the dead man’s wallet and driving licence plus a burned flask used in his torture.

Senior investigating officer Det Sgt Paul Davies said the tracker’s discovery was ‘key in piecing everything together’.

As for how the tracker was put on the van in the first place, CCTV and phone analysis would show it was one of Coleen Campbell’s many jaw-dropping acts of betrayal.

Her ex-husband had continued to collect their daughter from primary school – a mundane act of domesticity which Coleen ensured would effectively condemn him to death.

She told Belfield of the arrangement, enabling his ‘driver’ Stephen Cleworth to plant the tracker on the vehicle while he was waiting at the school gates on June 27, 2022.

The gang used it to monitor Mr Campbell’s movements via the disposable ‘burner’ mobile phone – and crucially ensure they knew when he would be at home.

That evening Belfield and ‘right-hand man’ Reece Steven carried out two ‘hostile reconnaissance’ trips to the target’s house – also accompanied on one occasion by Cleworth.

Two days later Belfield met up with Coleen, spending half-an-hour sitting in his Range Rover where he is believed to have demonstrated to her how he can track her ex-husband’s van.

That evening Belfield messaged her to say he had ‘just left’ his Mossley home, with Mr Campbell then arriving with their children at her house in Clayton.

Coleen confirmed the coast was clear by informing Belfield there was no-one else at Mr Campbell’s home.

That cleared the way for a third reconnaissance trip, with a hooded Belfield and Cleworth caught on CCTV loitering outside the property.

Later on the evening of June 29 the plot entered a new phase – the ‘dress rehearsal’.

Now confident of his movements, at 11.24pm a Vauxhall van which police believe contained Belfield, Steven, Cleworth and a fourth man was parked on the next-door driveway – a minute before Mr Campbell arrived home in his own van.

Having established that the target simply went indoors without being suspicious of the unfamiliar vehicle, Belfield sent Coleen the single word text: ‘Tomorrow.’

The following day – June 30 – Belfield and Coleen spent 22 minutes talking on the phone before he and Reece Steven visited a B&Q store in Oldham to buy the ‘torture kit’.

Paying in cash they bought a blow torch, a plastic bag, a gas canister and extra-strength duct tape – the same brand that would later be used to truss up Mr Campbell.

That evening, after leaving their flashy cars in safe locations, mobile phone evidence showed Campbell, Steven and Cleworth heading to Mossley.

The plot was about to be put into effect.

Just before 11.15pm they parked their Vauxhall van next-door to Mr Campbell’s home – knowing as a result of the tracker that he was just five minutes away himself.

Detectives believe they were poised to ‘surge’ and overpower him.

But for all the planning, an unpredictable twist meant the intended victim was spared, at least for now.

Instead of going into the house, Mr Campbell went straight to nearby woodland with his dog.

The gang – one of whom was carrying a large bag believed to contain the ‘torture kit’ – set off on foot in pursuit.

But their unwitting quarry evaded them, returning home by a different route – ‘seemingly completely oblivious of how close he had come to a terrible encounter with the men who were looking for him’, prosecutor Nicholas de la Poer told jurors.

The trio left empty-handed and returned to their cars.

The next day, July 1, Mr Campbell enjoyed another stay of execution – this time because he was looking after his children at his house.

With the ruthless attack plan settled, it would seem the gang ‘drew the line at attacking him while his children were in the house’, prosecutors said.

The only possible source of the information about the childcare arrangement was Coleen Campbell, police believe.

Instead, July 2 was chosen to launch the attack – but this time there was another snag.

Despite frantic messages, Belfield’s driver Stephen Cleworth could not be contacted.

Incredibly he was ‘on a bender’, the court heard – at a swingers club in Rochdale called Decadence.

At 11.42am Belfield wrote: ‘This is what I mean about you mate you can’t even work with you bro.’

Over the course of the afternoon he sent other messages in a vain effort to recruit a replacement driver, with several telephone conversations with Coleen.

In desperation over the day-long radio silence, Belfield sent further messages to Cleworth telling him ‘Make sure you are ready for 8 mate’ and ‘We’re on’.

Shortly before 8pm Belfield arrived outside Cleworth’s house in the black Range Rover, waiting for nearly 25 minutes before giving up.

Just after 9pm he and Steven were pictured at the Flavour Factory takeaway, before Belfield again called Coleen.

CCTV shows her walking outside her home address to take the call – no doubt because she didn’t want her children to hear what she was discussing.

At 10.30pm Belfield and Steven were given a lift to Mossley by associate Karl Murphy.

Mr Murphy – who said Belfield told him he planned to ‘meet my bird’ – was later cleared of participating in the activities of an organised crime group over his involvement.

Finally at just after 11pm the Vauxhall van again arrived at the house next to Mr Campbell’s, just four minutes before he arrived home.

Taking him unawares, Belfield, Steven and a third unknown man ‘rushed’ him and attacked him with a blade.

‘Outnumbered and overwhelmed,’ the trial heard that as much as he struggled, he stood no chance.

Having found the burner phone, detectives were able to access the incriminating messages as the plot unfolded.

They were also able to identify members of the gang and establish their highly suspicious movements in the run-up to the killing.

And to the astonishment of the dead man’s family, his betrayal by ex-wife Coleen was exposed.

With Belfield in hiding despite police circulating him as wanted, she and the other gang members went on trial.

A mobile phone recovered following his arrest revealed he had swapped messages with ‘right-hand man’ Steven in the run-up to the case, discussing the strength of the evidence police had on him.

In February 2023, after being convicted of manslaughter, Coleen Campbell was jailed for 13 years.

Steven was convicted of Mr Campbell’s murder and given a life sentence with a minimum term of 37 years.

Meanwhile Cleworth – the ‘driver’ who attached the tracker but was uncontactable on a ‘bender’ when the killing took place – was convicted of manslaughter and ordered to serve a minimum of 12 years.

Steven, of Middleton, Cleworth, of Heywood, and Campbell, of Manchester, were all also convicted of conspiracy to rob.

The following month Belfield was arrested in Suriname – setting in train a slow process which led to his deportation to the UK and conviction.

However the investigation remains ongoing, with detectives still trying to trace the third unidentified member of the torture gang.