Elderly lottery winner uses jackpot to build £288m drug empire making pills from his cottage

John Eric Spiby cashed in his winning ticket in 2010 to construct a drugs lab in the "stables" opposite his cottage near Wigan, Greater Manchester.

The then 65-year-old used the facilities to build a "sophisticated" lab to produce counterfeit medication, estimated to have a street value of up to £288 million.

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Spiby went on to grow his empire using his son and two associates, building a second drug factory in Salford to flood the streets with "unregulated, unlicensed and unchecked" drugs, a court heard.

At the height of his powers, Spidy boasted that US tech billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos "best watch their backs".

But as sales of counterfeit drugs soared, so did the number of drug-related deaths in the area, with desperate users playing "Russian roulette" with their lives, prosecutors said.

The group's success caught the attention of the police, who ran a surveillance team on them after uncovering incriminating messages on an app dubbed the "WhatsApp for criminals".

When officers eventually raided a hired van, they found 2.6 million counterfeit Diazepam tablets with a street value of up to £5.2 million.

Police also raided a string of properties and found three firearms plus ammunition, as well as cash and industrial tablet manufacturing machinery.

Spiby Sr, now 80, had a "significant" criminal record but denied any knowledge of the conspiracy.

But he was convicted of drug offences and jailed for 16-and-a-half years on Tuesday.

Passing sentence, Judge Nicholas Clarke KC said: "Despite your lottery win, you continued to live your life of crime beyond what would be a normal retirement age."

His son, John Colin Spiby, and associate Lee Drury were jailed for more than 18 years.

Another gang member, Callum Dorrian, 35, was given 12 years at a previous hearing.

The court heard that Spiby Snr used frosted windows to "hide" his lab from the outside world.

Inside, there was "industrial-scale" equipment capable of producing tens of thousands of tablets per hour.

Bolton Crown Court heard Drury used his company, Nutra Inc, as a 'front' to cover up the illicit business.

Between June 2020 and May 2022, £200,000 worth of machinery and ingredients were bought, with pills sold for 65p each.

But the group were uncovered by French law enforcement officers, who managed to uncover encrypted messages on messaging platform EncroChat.

The criminals discussed raw materials and the prospect of moving to synthesising the drugs to maximise their profits.

The recipe for making the drugs was saved on Drury's phone.

Dorrian and Drury were observed by officers loading a rented Enterprise van with boxes which were due to be delivered to a hotel in Manchester on April 1, 2022.

On May 17, 2022, officers carried out a number of warrants which resulted in the seizure of three viable firearms, ammunition, cash, and significant quantities of counterfeit tablets and raw materials.

All four men were arrested and remanded into custody.

Jailing Spidy Sr, Judge Clarke said the gang sold pills to people who "could not find them through legitimate means".

The fake tablets caused "untold harm" to addicts.

Dorrian, of Eccles, was previously given a 12-year sentence for conspiracy to supply firearms and conspiracy to produce and supply Class C drugs.

Spiby Sr, of Astley, near Wigan, was also convicted of conspiracy to possess a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life.

Spiby Jr, 37, of Salford, was jailed for nine years after being convicted of conspiracy to produce Class B and Class C drugs, and conspiracy to supply Class C drugs.

Drury, 45, of Stalybridge, Tameside, who pleaded guilty partway through their trial, was jailed for nine years and nine months for the same offences as Spiby Jr.

Detective Inspector Alex Brown, from Greater Manchester Police's Serious Organised Crime Group, said: "These four individuals showed absolutely no regard for human life or public safety.

"All they were interested in was lining their own pockets with significant financial gain.

"They operated a fully industrialised drug‑manufacturing business capable of producing millions of counterfeit tablets containing a highly dangerous substance.

"The volume of tablets we recovered – along with the sophisticated machinery – demonstrated how deeply embedded this group was in the illicit drug supply chain.

"Alongside the drug production, this group was also linked to the supply of a range of deadly firearms, including automatic weapons and ammunition.

"This potentially deadly combination presented a serious threat to communities not just in Greater Manchester but across the country and beyond."