Steroid gang finally sentenced after £700,000 Instagram racket busted in Telford seven years ago

The court was told how Etherington was “the boss”, and had a number of "sham" businesses registered, including a clothing company named “Gear Heads” - a slang term for regular steroid users.

He also had a personalised number plate on his luxury Jaguar which roughly spelled out "juicer" - another alternative way to describe a user.

He made payments worth £230,000 to his co-conspirators for their criminal contributions over the course of six years from when the operation began in January 2012 to when it was brought down on May 7, 2018.

Etherington, aged 49, was based in Durham, but David Panasiuk ran the production side from a warehouse at a business park in Telford.

Police busted the warehouse and discovered four pill presses - one of which was in working order - and raw materials for steroids which, once produced, would be worth an estimated £500,000.

Matthew Harris, prosecuting, said the pill press “was used to generate industrial scale amounts of anabolic steroids”.

“It was a sophisticated operation,” he added, saying that the professional packaging of the drugs which included bar and QR codes and use-by dates gave them “an air of legitimacy they shouldn’t have had”.

Police then executed a warrant at the home Panasiuk shares with his wife in Catterick Close, Leegomery, Telford, and discovered 85 vials of steroids as well as £17,000 in cash. Between them, the Panasiuks received payments of £166,000 from Etherington.

Officers found evidence of their “expensive lifestyle”, including luxury watches and £1,000 cash in Jessica Panasiuk’s handbag.

They also found a box addressed to Wheeler which contained 52 vials of drugs.

It was discovered that Wheeler was a “retailer” of the drugs in Cornwall. He received £6,700 from Etherington and his wife was paid £15,000, but she was not prosecuted.

Telford-based Phipps’s mobile phone was examined by police on an unrelated matter when they found that he had been in contact with David Panasiuk. Phipps had been hired to operated the pill press and also received packages. He received £15,000 for his criminal efforts.

North’s main role was to help legitimise the “dirty money” that the group had made, with Etherington referring to him as a “bad-ass money launderer” in a message. North, of Partridge Drive, Ketley, Telford, received £24,000 for his contributions.

Etherington; David Panasiuk, aged 42; Phipps, 40, and 47-year-old Wheeler pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class C drugs.

North, 36, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to acquire/use/possess criminal property.

Jessica Panasiuk, 32, pleaded guilty to acquiring criminal property.

The court was told that Etherington, of Turnbull Crescent, Seaham, Durham, “began using steroids a number of years ago” before he began selling them and that he has stayed out of trouble since committing these offences.

Robert Edwards, for David Panasiuk, said Panasiuk is "very much a family man" who has volunteered in warzones in Iraq and Afghanistan as a civil engineer. He said Panasiuk suffered an injury on a deployment and that he has also been a steroid user.

The court was told that Wheeler, of Grosvenor Place, St Austell, Cornwall, is a father-of-four whose wife suffers from "significant health issues", and had "repeatedly" expressed remorse.

Debra White, for Phipps, of Dunsheath, Telford, said he has had "a lot of time to reflect" and the criminal proceedings had been "a wake up call" to him.

Danny Smith, for North, said: "He expresses through me how ashamed he is to find himself in the dock."

Mr Smith added that North had found himself in financial trouble after the end of a relationship, but has now got a £49,000-a-year engineering job.

Mr Edwards, who also represented Jessica Panasiuk, said she had character references saying she is "a good mum".

He added that it was a long time since he had seen someone "in such fear" at the prospect of potentially going to jail.

Judge Trevor Meegan told the six: "Anabolic steroid use has increased in recent years in this country, such is the desire to improve body image and to enhance sporting ability and physical strength in gyms up and down the country. It can be in tablet form or can be injected as a liquid.

"This was a large and sophisticated enterprise. It included marketing, production and delivery to a large market in the UK.

"You all played different but important roles. All of you were motivated by greed."

He jailed Etherington for four years and David Panasiuk for three years. It is expected they will serve up to half of their custodial terms before being released on licence.

Wheeler, Phipps and North were all handed two-year prison sentences, suspended for two years, plus 250 hours of unpaid work.

Phipps and North were also made subject of curfews, banning them from leaving their homes at night between 7pm and 7am the next day.

Jessica Panasiuk was handed a 12-month community order including 100 hours of unpaid work.

Remarking on whether or not he should have sent her to jail, he told her: "I do not see why your own children should suffer for their parents' stupidity."

Etherington and the Panasiuks will be subject to a proceeds of crime case in the future to see if some of their ill-gotten gains can be recouped.