Lee Ablitt and Christopher Thompson had stored ‘industrial’ amounts in Rhyl and across the north-west of England
A gym owner and doorman were today ordered to pay back more than half a million pounds between them after supplying class C drugs on a major scale. Lee Ablitt and Christopher Thompson had stored “industrial” amounts, across North Wales and the north-west of England, totalling 1,326,000 steroid tablets and 64,870 millilitres of liquid steroids worth a total of between £1.5m to £2.1m.
That included two self-storage containers in Rhyl, registered to Ablitt, where a significant quantity of steroids and performance enhancing drugs were discovered along with a large quantity of cash.
Ablitt, 52 of Hoy Drive, Newton-le-Willows, was jailed for five years for conspiracy to supply class C drugs. Thompson, 51, of Scot Lane, Wigan, Lancashire, was jailed for 33 months for the same offence, at Mold Crown Court in November 2024.
A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing today heard Thompson benefitted £543,919.82p from the criminal operation, he had a joint benefit with Ablitt of £152,079.23p, with an available amount to pay back of £20,936.85p, made up of cash seized, the defendant’s interest in a property and a vehicle registration plate.
Ablitt benefitted £1,701,748.31p, and had available 512,637.97p. That was mainly made up of cash seized, but there was also money in balances in bank accounts, a private vehicle registration and a vehicle.
Judge Simon Mills gave Thompson and Ablitt three months to pay back their available amounts. If Thompspon fails to pay the money back in that time, he faces a prison sentence of 12 months. Ablitt will face a prison sentence of five years and six months, if he defaults on his payment.
The court had hear their criminal enterprise was dismantled after 51-year-old Lee Ablitt was stopped by police on the M56 for driving while disqualified.
In one of those storage containers in Rhyl police found £483,968 in cash in a suitcase. Ablitt’s DNA was on the suitcase. Data recovered from Ablitt’s phone revealed that Thompson was also involved, with Thompson sending lists of drugs to Ablitt that customers were requesting.
While the defence argued that Ablitt’s involvement was rooted in a lifelong steroid addiction and body image issues, the prosecution emphasised the massive scale of the profit-driven business.
As he sentenced the two, Judge Rhys Rowlands told the men that steroids posed a real risk to health, a fact they ignored to make money.
Source – North Wales Live