Drugs maker faces £288,516 bill

The farm was raided by National Crime Squad officers in July 2002

A man who duped family and friends into helping him run a £20m drugs factory from a barn has been ordered to hand over nearly £300,000 of the proceeds.

Kevin Hoare convinced four others they were making medical compounds for cancer victims when they were actually producing amphetamines.

The 46-year-old, from Hurst Green in East Sussex, was jailed for 12 years in March for producing and conspiring to supply the drugs.

He has now been told if he does not pay back £288,516 he will face a further three years in jail.

Nine months to pay

Hoare enlisted the help of his two sons, his girlfriend and a handyman to help him produce up to six tons of "speed" at his farm, Bugsell Mill Oast.

The six week trial at Lewes Crown Court earlier this year saw him jailed for 12 years, while the dealer who sold the drugs, 42-year-old Graham Pierce from Streatham in London, was given 10 years.

The four people fooled into making the drugs were cleared of charges of producing a class B controlled drug.

In a confiscation hearing at Lewes Crown Court on Wednesday, Hoare was ordered to pay the £288,516 in nine months.

The court heard the only realisable assets he had were profits from the sale of his business and car, and £150,00 equity in the shape of the oasthouse, which is in the process of being repossessed.

Pierce was last week ordered to pay just £1,000 despite having made an estimated profit of £70,000.