Millionaire drug baron trapped by showing off: Mansion photoshoot triggers arrest

By Rebecca Camber
Last updated at 11:27 PM on 20th January 2011

Narcot-tricks: Paul Yearsley claimed to have made his fortune selling homes to Premier League footballers, in reality he was a drug baron

When his ?6million mansion was featured in the centre pages of a glossy lifestyle magazine, it was dubbed a ‘dream home fit for a pop star’.

The proud owner, Paul Yearsley, was eager to show off his ‘Georgian-style’ mansion, complete with a state-of-the-art home cinema, huge swimming pool, sauna, gym and a brand-new Range Rover sitting on the drive alongside a Bentley Continental.

But while he claimed to have made his fortune selling homes to Premier League footballers, in reality Yearsley was a drug baron whose only legitimate income was a council disability pension, thought to amount to a few hundred pounds a month.

Now the 44-year-old faces jail after admitting supplying cannabis worth ?330,000. He is due to be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court today.

The married father of four was caught only after officers from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) became suspicious about his ?lavish lifestyle in relation to his meagre official income.

He had worked for Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council as a recreation supervisor at a swimming pool until 1993 when he was pensioned off at the age of 28 because of health issues.

Sixteen years later, Yearsley had built up a multi-million-pound property portfolio, including 80 homes around Manchester as well as a villa in the Costa del Sol.

After building his own stately ?mansion in the footballer’s belt of Heaton in Bolton, which he named Knowsley Manor, the drug lord also developed another mansion in the grounds, which he sold on for ?2.2million, and a third development of a ?800,000 house was planned on the same site.

Cannabliss: Crime squad officers spotted that Knowsley Manor appeared rather grand for someone getting by on just a disability payment

But Yearsley couldn’t resist the temptation to flaunt his wealth and in August 2009, he and his wife

Carol, 45, who formerly worked in merchandising with The Disney Store, invited Lancashire Magazine, a local homes and lifestyle glossy publication, to see their seven-?bedroom home.

It received a glowing write-up, with the magazine gushing about ‘roomfuls of wow factor’, detailing the marble floors throughout, the bespoke marble kitchen, imposing curved double staircase and oversized mirrors in every room that transformed into giant TV screens.

Underground haven: Yearsley's luxurious swimming pool

Big-screen experience: The basement's home cinema

‘Perhaps it is at the very bottom of this house that the ultimate feeling of dream living is crystallised,’ it added, describing the swimming pool, bar lounge, steam room and showers, gym and cinema.

Yearsley told Lancashire Magazine that he made his millions first as a car salesman then through his property company, Premier Properties Ltd. But Soca officers, who had been watching him for a year, knew differently.

They followed him to a retail park in Bolton where he met drug-runners Frederick Hoyle and Tony Dixon to oversee the handover of 120 kilos of cannabis resin packed in four bales which had been smuggled into the country from North Africa. When Yearsley was arrested on December 18, 2009, his wife and daughters had their bags packed to jet off to a luxury ski resort.

Opulent: Bathroom has his and hers sinks

Sumptuous: The mansion has marble flooring throughout

In October last year he pleaded guilty at Manchester Crown Court, admitting he had responsibility for arranging delivery and storage of the drugs. He is due to be sentenced today along with Hoyle, 60, of Chelmsford and Dixon, 38, of ?Horwich, Bolton, who also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply ?cannabis resin.

Steve Baldwin, head of investigations in the North West for Soca, said: ‘Paul Yearsley was a man whose lifestyle on paper and in ?reality simply didn’t match. Unfortunately for Yearsley he couldn’t resist splashing out on luxury houses and cars. Soca will now be investigating his assets, and if we can prove they are the proceeds of crime we will do everything we can to take them off him.’

View the original article here