Drug baron John Anslow sprung by pals to flee to sun
He was Britain's most wanted man. A murder suspect who had escaped custody and was convicted of running a major drug dealing operation from the Black Country while he was hiding out in northern Cyprus.
Today a jury found that John Anslow was not the man who organised the cold-blooded murder of Staffordshire businessman Richard Deakin but the Express & Star can today reveal the full extent of his other crimes.
Reporting restrictions have meant Anslow's many offences could not be revealed to the jury.
But we can report that 33-year-old Anslow:
Masterminded his own violent escape from custody while inside prison walls.
Was the ring leader of a UK-wide drugs gang, distributing huge quantities of cocaine and cannabis.
Fled to Cyprus in a bid to start a new life on the run.
On January 23 last year Tipton man Anslow –who was being held over the murder of Mr Deakin – was sprung from a prison van.
Three masked men armed with sledgehammers and a shotgun stopped the van as it made its way from HMP Hewell near Redditch to Stafford Crown Court.
The gang smashed windows and forced the driver out, punching him in the face, before ordering a female officer to open the door to Anslow's cell.
She did, and just seconds later he was gone, still wearing his distinctive yellow and blue prison clothes and in handcuffs, but sat in a car which fled at speeds of up to 100mph.
Anslow would later flee to Cyprus where he was joined by his partner and child, who was enrolled in the local school.
Police believe Anslow's escape plan was months in the making. He received a Christmas card in his cell, which bore a message reading:?"Wishing you a very Merry Christmas filled with fun and surprises!"
But in actual fact the card contained a secret coded message which gave Anslow crucial details as to how he would escape.
It was signed 'love from Stratford' and contained a numerical code which suggested it was an insurance number. In fact the number was a mobile phone number, but written in a code.
After managing to flee the country Anslow spent 13 months on the run in northern Cyprus where he was eventually held over immigration offences, paving the way for his deportation to the UK. Upon his return he automatically began a 22-year prison stretch for conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis, for which he was convicted in his absence while on the run.
Police had uncovered details on the widescale drugs operation after bugging Anslow's Bradley flat in December 2010 and January 2011.
When they raided the flat they found a Rolex watch and evidence of a 'luxury lifestyle'. Anslow was believed to have several expensive cars and was seen driving around Bilston in a £55,000 Porsche.
He had engineered a reputation as a top-level drug dealer, dealing thousands of pounds of cocaine and cannabis to fund his lavish lifestyle.
His conviction for drug trafficking covered activity between August 2010 and September 2011, but it is believed the operation had been up and running for some time. Drugs were distributed throughout the country, with Anslow's Tipton patch used as the network's base.
The pair spoke many times a day on 'dirty phones' but also had a large network of associates. The prosecution in the murder trial had claimed that the two were also in regular contact over Mr Deakin's murder but the jury rejected that argument after hearing from Anslow that the pair were instead chatting about family, Harrison's skip business or their drug dealing sideline.
Anslow was jailed for 22 years for conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis, with Harrison getting eight years.
Six other men, Matthews, Neil Doody, Philip Eastwood, Mark Cash, Robert Peck and Paul Smart, received sentences of between 10 and two years.
Six people have also been jailed for helping Anslow flee custody.
