Millionaire lottery winner set up fake prescription drug labs with his son
A man who won £2,400,000 on the lottery in 2010 has been convicted of building a drugs lab at his home and distributing ‘unregulated’ pills.
John Eric Spiby, 80, built the ‘sophisticated’ lab near his home in Clover Cottage in Wigan.
Bolton Crown Court was told the drugs produced were disguised as diazepam and sold on the street by people who ‘couldn’t find them’ through legitimate means.
A judge told the court the pills caused ‘untoward harm’ towards addicts, and it cost more than £10,000 to operate the lab.
Judge Nicholas Clarke KC said: ‘Such was the scale of the operation, you needed to ensure there was a three-phase electricity supply, costing £15,000 in order to run the machines being used and packaging for onward supply.’
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In 2021, Spiby’s operation expanded, the court heard, and he set up another lab at the Albion Unit in Salford, worth an estimated £210,000.
The drugs were sold at around 65p apiece, the court heard, and when police searched Spiby’s property, they found two guns and ammunition.
Associate Lee Drury, 45, used his company, NutraInk, as a ‘front’ to cover up the criminal business.
Between June 2020 and May 2022, £200,000-worth of machinery and ingredients were bought.
On April 2, 2022, a ‘significant’ shipment of drugs was primed to be delivered to a hotel in Manchester. When Drury went to meet the driver, he was intercepted by the police.
More than 2.5 million tablets were found in the vehicle, with a £7m wholesale value and a £67m street value.
Judge Clarke added: ‘He had collected something in excess of 37.5 million tablets over a 12-month period.’
Spiby Senior, his son, John Colin Spiby, 37, Drury and associate Callum Dorrian, 35, continued the operation despite the police interference.
EncroChat messages revealed they had discussed raw materials and the prospect of moving to synthesising the drugs to maximise profits.
The recipe for making the drugs was saved on Drury’s phone. He had sent it to the group chat on March 25, 2022, while boasting about potential profits.
The court heard Spiby Snr has a ‘significant’ criminal record and played a significant part in the conspiracy.
‘You provided the premises and helped adapt the premises and purchase machinery,’ the judge told him. ‘You were senior both in name and role. Despite your lottery win, you continued to live your life of crime beyond what would be a normal retirement age.’
The judge told Spiby Junior that he was ‘guided by his upbringing as being the son of a millionaire criminal father.’
John Eric Spiby was jailed for 16 years and six months after being convicted of conspiring to produce Class B and Class C drugs, and conspiring to possess a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life.
His son, John Colin Spiby, of Britannia Street, Salford, was jailed for nine years for drugs offences, while Lee Drury, of Hassal Street, Stalybridge, received a sentence of nine years and nine months.
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