UK lottery winner, 80, jailed for $424-million counterfeit drugs – National
Four members of a UK gang, including an 80-year-old man and his son, have been jailed for almost 50 years following an investigation into the operation of firearms and counterfeit drugs in Wigan, northern England, according to Greater Manchester Police.
Authorities described the project as “setting up tablets on an industrial scale.”
It was led by John Eric Spiby, 80, who won £2.4 million (C$4.4 million) in the 2010 lottery. The four men involved were found guilty of manufacturing and supplying counterfeit diazepam pills, possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition and perverting the operation of the law, among other charges.
(Diazepam is an anti-anxiety medication used to calm the nervous system, relieve muscle spasms, treat seizures and ease alcohol withdrawal.)
Both Spiby and John Spiby Jr., 37, pleaded not guilty but were found guilty after a trial in November 2025, Greater Manchester police said.
Left, John Spiby; on the right, his son John Spiby, Jr.
Greater Manchester Police
Two other men, Callum Dorian, 35, and Lee Ryan Drury, 45, were also convicted and sentenced to 12 years and nine years, respectively. Dorian was arrested in 2024.
Callum Dorian, left, and Lee Drury, right.
Greater Manchester Police
The court heard that Spiby Sr. he “provided the premises and helped prepare the premises and procurement equipment” worth thousands of pounds to produce the drugs, the Guardian reported.
According to a source, Judge Clark KC, who presided over Spiby’s sentencing on Tuesday, told him: “Despite your lottery win, you continue to live a life of crime well beyond what would normally be your retirement age.”
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Prosecutor Emma Clarke said the gang was involved in the production of counterfeit diazepam worth an estimated £288 million (C$424 million).
Police identified the facility as “a small house behind Spiby Senior’s home,” which was found to contain an “industrial-grade pill machine capable of producing tens of thousands of pills per hour.”
The group rented a shipping container that held millions of pills awaiting distribution. Spiby also owned an industrial unit, which he bought in 2021 with the aim of transforming and expanding the group’s production capacity, police said.
Adam Kent KC, representing Spiby Sr, said Dorian was “the principal of this project.” He said that in Dorian’s words, “the boy who uses his lump is a millionaire,” which means that Spiby Sr.
Some of the guns found in Spiby’s home were from the Second World War, he said.
Social media messages sent through encrypted platforms were allegedly written by Dorian, who used the handle “Fallensoda,” police said.
“Messages and images associated with this username depicted the operation and supply of firearms including AK-47s, Uzis, Tec-9s, Scorpions, Grand Power rifles, silencers, and ammunition,” according to investigators.
In an effort to operate invisibly, Drury created a fake company in August 2020, complete with a website advertising machine for tablets, blenders, packaging machines and powdered supplements.
“The sentences should be a clear warning: organized crime will not be tolerated,” Det. Insp. Alex Brown said in a statement.
“We will continue to go after those who want to profit by doing harm, and we will use all the power and tools available to disrupt and dismantle organized crime gangs.”
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