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24
Jul
Two men involved in doomed Breaking Bad-style chemical factory in Harrogate to be sentenced
Two men are to be sentenced for producing a Class B drug after their doomed plot to create a Breaking Bad-style synthetic-drug factory ended with a huge explosion and a raging inferno at a former Jewson warehouse in Harrogate.
Richard Gray, 58, and Daniel Sidebotham, 47, were arrested following the huge blaze which erupted while they were mixing chemicals to produce Chloromethcathinone – a Cathinone derivative and illegal Class B drug – at the empty former industrial unit on Skipton Road in January 2024.
At York Crown Court last week, the two men pleaded guilty to attempting to produce Chloromethcathinone (CMC), a synthetic stimulant similar to Methcathinone.
They had also been charged with arson in relation to the blaze at the old factory but at an adjourned hearing today (July 24) prosecutor Dan Cordey said the Crown would be withdrawing this allegation which was allowed to lie on the court’s file.
Gray, from Wigan, Lancashire, and Sidebotham, from Cheshire, appeared in court to enter formal not-guilty pleas to a charge of damaging property by fire to a value unknown.
Judge Sean Morris said he agreed with the prosecution that the fire was accidental and had been caused by an “explosion…from mixing chemicals”.
Mr Morris added:
It feels like it could be a reckless act, trying to produce a Class B drug and in the process blowing something up.
On January 26, 2024, the old factory went up in flames and five fire crews were needed to tackle the blaze during evening rush hour. Black smoke billowed over the Skipton Road area and traffic had to be diverted away from the incident.
York Crown Court
The defendants’ doomed attempt at creating an illicit chemical factory had echoes of Breaking Bad, the hit US television series about a middle-aged chemistry teacher who teamed up with a former student to create a chemical lab under an industrial unit to produce illegal drugs.
Defence barrister Susannah Proctor, for Sidebotham, said he had never been in trouble before and had pleaded guilty to drug production on the basis that he was “acting on instructions” and was “unaware of what he was doing”.
Ms Proctor added:
There is evidence in text messages that instructions are being provided on how to create these chemicals.
There is evidence to show he didn’t know what was going on.
Gray did have previous convictions and had been recalled to prison since his arrest in Harrogate to serve the remainder of a previous jail sentence.
His barrister Louise Cowen, for Gray, said he would inevitably receive another prison sentence for the incident in Harrogate.
Gray, of Holcroft Drive, Wigan, appeared in court via video link after being remanded in custody.
Sidebotham, of Waterside Road, Disley, was bailed until the sentence hearing on September 3.
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