British pensioner used lottery winnings to set up drug lab that made £288 million
John Eric Spiby was one of four men charged with running the 'industrial-scale' drug lab
A British pensioner who used his lottery winnings to help finance a multi-million-pound drug empire has been jailed.
John Eric Spiby, 80, had used his £2.4 million lottery winnings to fund an enterprise responsible for manufacturing and flooding illegal markets with counterfeit tablets.
He denied all knowledge of the criminal activity but was ultimately convicted of conspiracy to produce class C drugs and conspiracy to supply class C drugs by Bolton Crown Court.
The pensioner was also found guilty of two counts of possession of firearms, possession of ammunition and perverting the course of justice and handed a sentence of 16 years and six months.
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Three other men, including Spiby's son, John Colin Spiby Jr, were also found guilty and jailed in relation to the operation.
Spiby Jr, who also denied the offences, received a nine-year sentence for conspiracy to produce and supply Class C drugs, while Lee Dury was handed nine years after being found guilty of conspiracy to produce and supply Class C drugs.
Meanwhile, Callum Dorian was previously handed a 12-year sentence for the conspiracy to supply firearms and conspiracy to produce and supply Class C drugs.
Described by Greater Manchester Police as an 'industrial‑scale tablet manufacturing set-up', the criminal enterprise is understood to have produced counterfeit pills disguised as diazepam, a medication used to treat anxiety, muscle spasms and alcohol withdrawal.
A court heard how the tablets, described as 'unregulated, unlicensed and unchecked', were then sold on the streets, causing 'untold harm' to addicted customers (via Manchester Evening News).
The operation is believed to have made as much as £288 million.
Spiby was described as having used his 2010 lottery windfall to play a 'significant' role in the enterprise, with the court told that he had purchased machinery and provided the premises for the operation.
"You were senior both in name and role," Judge Clarke KC told Spiby during sentencing remarks earlier this week.
"Despite your lottery win you continued to live a life of crime beyond what would normally have been your retirement years."
The judge went on to say that he did not accept claims that Spiby was only doing what he'd been told to do, adding: "I have no doubt you were consulted about everything in the conspiracy on a daily basis. You were involved in deliveries, meetings and stock.
"You were all at a senior level as a board of control. This was a very sophisticated and very significant commercial-scale organised conspiracy - you were the source."
Brenna Cooper