OAP's £700,000 drugs haul in Westhoughton freezer (From The Bolton News)

OAP's £700,000 drugs haul in Westhoughton freezer

9:45am Saturday 26th April 2008 in

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A PENSIONER stashed drugs worth almost £700,000 in his freezer.

William Thompson, aged 65, was caught with the hidden drugs when police raided his house in Hindley Road, Westhoughton, on February 22.

Officers found 34 bags of powder in the garage freezer, which tested positive for amphetamine in preliminary examinations and are believed to have had a street value of £680,000.

Nine boxes containing liquid ecstasy were found in the living room, believed to be worth more than £40,000.

Cannabis plants were found in a chest of drawers and wardrobe of a bedroom, while bags of the drug were also found in the loft, under the stairs and in the freezer.

In total, police recovered an estimated £750,000 worth of drugs.

They also seized a number of items from the house, including bank paying-in slips, four mobile phones, four blue notebooks and cannabis farming equipment.

At an earlier hearing at Bolton Magistrates Court, prosecutor Glenn Anderton said Thompson, who has a five-year-old son, had admitted storing the amphetamine in the freezer.

Mr Anderton said: "A man who he doesn't wish to name dropped it off some 14 months ago and hadn't returned to collect it. The ampules found in the front room were dropped off the previous week.

"He said he was paid £800 for holding on to the drugs for a few days.

"The five kilograms of cannabis that was recovered he indicated was for his own personal use. He claimed he purchased it for £500."

Thompson later told the police he had a long-standing friend he met in Rotterdam and that they helped each other out when they fell on hard times.

He pleaded guilty at Bolton Crown Court yesterday to three counts of possessing controlled drugs with intent to supply.

Neil Fryman, defending, told the court Thompson pleaded guilty to possessing ecstasy and amphetamine with intent to supply, only on the basis he had been paid to hold on to the drugs for someone else.

He said Thompson, who has throat cancer, accepted he supplied some cannabis socially.

At the magistrates court hearing, his solicitor, Rachael Walsh, said: "Mr Thompson was very frank and open with the police. He stated he was holding on to the drugs for someone else.

"Mr Thompson is not a big player in the respect of this matter. He has simply been very foolish and made the wrong decision in holding on to illegal items for another person."

"He is not high up in the food chain in the supply of drugs in the Westhoughton and Bolton area."

At Bolton Crown Court yesterday, Thompson was remanded in custody until May 23.

He blew a kiss to his relatives as he was led from the dock.