DETECTIVES today revealed how a fanatical body-builder ran an international steroid dealing business from a spare room in his Carlisle flat. James Sutherland [ErGs] used the internet to market illegal and dangerous steroids to fellow body builders across the world, with customers in the UK, China, the United States, and America.
Experts have repeatedly warned about the long-term health dangers of using steroids, but that did nothing to deter Sutherland. He even boasted to police that his business was so successful that his work kept him busy seven days a week.
At Carlisle Crown Court yesterday, the 47-year-old fitness fanatic was jailed for 20 months after he admitted two police assaults and 26 charges of offering to supply anabolic steroids, a Class C drug. Prosecutor Tim Evans said that while possessing the steroids was legal, selling them was not.
Having used steroids himself to build up his own unimpressive physique, Sutherland took his interest further: he set up his own website – roids.co.uk – to distribute them across the world. “He developed a deliberate covering of his tracks because he knew fine well that what he was doing was illegal,” said Mr Evans.
When police raided Sutherland’s one-bedroomed flat at Denton Mill Close, Denton Holme, in June 2002, they found what officers say was “a sophisticated mini-production line.” Crammed into a tiny utility room was all the evidence they needed: a consignment of steroids and a sophisticated mailing system, with invoices, stamps, packaging materials, airmail stickers, and bubblewrap, said Mr Evans.
Investigators estimated Sutherland had about 350 customers, some returning again and again. They believe he sent out steroids worth more than £25,000, having bought them from Greece.
Sutherland’s defence barrister Alex Offer said he had a “genuinely held belief” that steroids were harmless if taken “sensibly” – a claim refuted by experts. He said Sutherland supplied only to adult male body builders – “a community in which these drugs have been routinely used for decades.” “He throws himself into anything he does with great enthusiasm, but not much forethought,” said Mr Offer.
The police investigation into Sutherland’s international drugs operation began by chance when officers called at his fashionable Denton Holme flat about another inquiry – and in his tiny utility room found his steroids HQ.
Among the drugs stored there were Sustanon, Dianabol, and Nandralone, which has frequently ruined the careers of top athletes. On his computer they found Sutherland’s website, boasting of a business that was a world-leader in its field.
A court hearing next April will decide to what extent Sutherland profited, but his lifestyle suggested it was more than worth his while. His swish Denton Holme flat, a flash new car, and the lifestyle of a young professional all had to be paid for and Sutherland’s business was clearly going well.
Acting detective sergeant Sara Craig recalled how Sutherland seemed unconcerned in interviews – arrogant, even, about his crimes. “He was very knowledgeable,” she conceded, “but arrogant, a bit too clever, and argumentative. He was making a good living, and tried to justify what he was selling, saying that it was legal. His website bragged about being the top one in the world.”
Through a painstaking investigation, officers from north Cumbria targeting unit and the High Tech Crime Unit gathered evidence. Paul Brown, director of Cumbria Alcohol and Drug Advisory Service, sounded a warning about steroids use, saying: “In the short term, steroids can cause aggression. In the longer term, they can cause liver and kidney damage.” He added that in Cumbria there is a “fairly stable” problem with steroid abuse, mostly involving young men.
Sutherland was jailed for eight months for the steroids offence, and a further 12 months for assaulting two police officers who arrested him in Carlisle city centre. [ErGs]
just shows you the laws in the uk comperd to the us
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Originally Posted by JiGGaMaN
