Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
GYM OWNER AVOIDS JAIL OVER STEROIDS RACKET
Dealer also had £128k in crime assets
THE owner of a fitness outlet who gave anabolic steroids to clients was spared jail yesterday.
Hugh Mcquade received a 16-month prison sentence, which was suspended for two years, after he admitted supplying a variety of the drugs to customers over an eight-month period.
The 50-year-old owner of HM Sports on the Castlereagh Road, East Belfast, also admitted possessing criminal property amounting to just over £128,000 following a police search at his business premises in February 2018.
From Global Crescent, he appeared at a remote sitting at Belfast Crown Court via a video link with his solicitor’s office, where he was arraigned and sentenced on the same day.
During the raid on the premises, police seized cash, his phone and other equipment including an ipad. These devices showed evidence that he had been supplying anabolic steroids on a regular basis to clients who used his fitness facilities between June 2017 and February 2018.
Judge David Mcfarland said while there was a demand for anabolic steroids for body-building or to assist in the recovery of injury, they were controlled Class C drugs that are regulated “for a purpose”.
BELFAST CROWN COURT YESTERDAY
The Judge added this purpose was “to provide a degree of protection to the public given the harmful side affects that arise from taking these drugs, except under medical supervision and for a therapeutic purpose”.
The Belfast Recorder said there was no evidence Mcquade was stockpiling steroids and the supply was “likely to reflect consumer-based demand”.
Turning to the £112,030 and €1,850 seized in the premises, Judge Mcfarland said the cash reflected profits from the sale of the steroids, which will be the basis of a separate Proceeds of Crime investigation.
He cited the length of time and the quantity of the supply as aggravating factors, with the mitigating factors including a guilty plea at the first opportunity and a lack of relevant criminal record.
The judge said he also noted the delay in the case, Mcquade’s settled family life and work history as well as the impact the subsequent Proceeds of Crime investigation is going to have on his business.
After sentence was passed, Mcquade was warned he faced jail if he committed further offences in the next two years.