man wins £2.4m, immediately pivots to industrial drug manufacturing

A man who won £2.4m on the national lottery helped build a multimillion pound drug empire that involved manufacturing counterfeit tablets on an industrial scale, a court has heard. John Eric Spiby, 80, was the leader of a drugs operation worth up to £288m that centred on his “quiet, rural” home near Wigan, Bolton crown court was told. He denied any knowledge of the conspiracy but after a trial at Bolton crown court he was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to produce class C drugs and conspiracy to supply class C drugs. He was also found guilty of two counts of possession of firearms, possession of ammunition and perverting the course of justice and was given a jail sentence of 16 years and six months. Spiby won the money in 2010, and was involved in flooding the region with millions of tablets disguised as diazepam, the court heard. Diazepam, also known as Valium, calms the nervous system to treat anxiety, muscle spasms, seizures, and alcohol withdrawal. The court heard that he also “provided the premises and helped adapt the premises and purchase machinery” worth thousands of pounds to make the drugs. Sentencing on Tuesday, Judge Clarke KC told Spiby: “Despite your lottery win you continued to live a life of crime beyond what would normally have been your retirement years.”