Hmm, this plot sounds somewhat familiar: A physics technician from the University of Bristol has been sentenced to 18 months in jail after using equipment in the university's lab to prepare more than $15,000 worth of cocaine for sale on the city's streets.
As the Bristol Post is reporting, Timothy Newbury, along with former solider Nicholas Avery, sought out the lab's hydraulic press. Newbury was a lab technician at the university's physics department, giving him easy access to the equipment.
Normally, these presses are used to straighten, stamp, and bend metal for general shop work. But in a physics lab it can produce all kinds of flat and compressed objects — which is exactly what the team used it for; after cutting the cocaine with other substances, the dynamic duo then employed the press to convert the drug into a highly compressed block for distribution.
They basically turned the university lab into their own pressing workshop. During the trial, closed-caption TV showed Newbury and Avery going to the lab.
But unfortunately for them, they were later stopped by police and found to be in possession of the cocaine. After searching Avery's residence, officers discovered almost 750g of high-purity cocaine worth about $306,000.
Avery pleaded guilty at Bristol Crown Court to two counts of possessing cocaine with intent to supply and was jailed for five years. Newbury only received an 18 month sentence after successfully arguing that he had no other involvement in the operation.
Image: This Bristol.