Speed and spice factory hidden in ‘homemade lab’ above Leeds car garage
Bernice J. Hicks
3 min read
Two men have been convicted of producing a huge amount of drugs above a garage in Leeds.
John Proctor, 49, was jailed for four years for overseeing the mass production of amphetamines at Josh Langdale’s garage in Seacroft.
Langdale, 29, who the court said had been forced to allow the space above his garage to be used as a “homemade chemistry lab”, was given a suspended sentence.
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The pair were also charged with possession and distribution of the synthetic cannabinoid spice and were sentenced at Leeds Crown Court on Wednesday.
The court heard police raided the garage in April 2018 and found the amphetamine along with equipment such as mixing bowls and protective gloves to produce the drug.
There was also caffeine and sugar found at the site which the prosecution said had been used as a “cutting agent” to “tamper” with drugs.
Langdale was arrested but provided no information to police.
It wasn’t until a separate raid on a family member of Proctor’s home in 2019, where four kilograms of amphetamine and rubber gloves containing Proctor’s DNA were discovered, that he was arrested and tied to garage drugs.
Police discovered that Proctor deleted his phone message history and other data so they could track down who he was supplying the drugs to.
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As a mitigation, the court was told there was “no evidence” that Proctor was in charge of the operation and that when asked if there were other people involved, he had said “he would prefer not to name others or confirm their involvement for obvious reasons”.
Langdale’s legal representative said he was 25 when he was arrested and was of “good character” prior to the arrest.
They said he started working at the garage, which was owned by a friend’s father, at an early age before becoming an owner.
Proctor had come to see him as a client before asking him to use the space above the garage. The court was told that Langdale’s role was one of ‘passivity’ and that he had ‘turned a blind eye’ to the crimes committed.
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Since his arrest, Langdale had started an engineering degree at Plymouth and was now in his fourth year.
In handing down his sentence, Judge Mushtaq Khokhar told Proctor, “Having considered the cases as a whole, it seems to me that in terms of production, it is highly likely that you played a leading role.”
Proctor, who had 11 previous convictions, was sentenced to four years in prison.
Langdale was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for one year.
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