A Wirral gym owner, who defied government rules by keeping his business open during a lockdown, has been jailed for drug smuggling.

Birkenhead-born Nicholas Whitcombe, who runs Body Tech Fitness in Moreton, appeared in Jersey's Royal Court on Wednesday, January 5, where he was sentenced to three years in prison alongside accomplice Anthony Andrew Dryden for trafficking cannabis resin into the Channel Island before laundering the money.

Mr Whitcombe, 31, came into the national focus back in October 2020 when he opened his Wirral gym for business as usual on the first day of a Tier 3 lockdown, insisting that they needed to stay open for the mental wellbeing of his members.

Police attended the gym the following day and issued a fixed penalty notice, ordering the owner to pay a £1,000 fine and to close immediately.

The court heard that Mr Whitcombe, who operated in Merseyside, and Mr Dryden who operated in Jersey, conspired together between 2018 and 2019 to import cannabis resin into Jersey via the postal system in a plot that was worth more than £50,000.

The two had met in 2015. At the time Whitcombe was serving a six-year sentence at HMP La Moye for his involvement in importing MDMA, mephedrone and cannabis into the Island.

Dryden was arrested in July 2019, at which time he was found in possession of cannabis. His mobile phone was seized at the the time and examined, revealing messages with Whitcombe using a secure app know as 'Signal'.

Dryden had saved Whitcombe's number in his phone under the name 'TC'.

Investigators uncovered a series of text messages between the pair discussing which type of cannabis was best for the local market and plans for it to be delivered to a third party.

In one exchange on May 31, 2018, Whitcombe said: "Highest grade mate. I've got access to Burberry. Bob Marley. And some other ones. Highest grade. Even at wholesale here it's 4.2k a kg. Soft as f*** it's like playdough."

Dryden responded: "Never heard of it but rest assured I won't stop trying till we get these parcels landing again."

Later that year, once 3kg of drugs had been imported into Jersey, exports of cash totalling £16,000 were sent in the opposite direction.

The court heard that Whitcombe handed over his side of the operation to someone else in December 2018, but Dryden was arrested shortly after another drop in March 2019, when his phone was seized.

Dryden was subsequently arrested again in July 2021 as was Whitcombe, who was brought back to Jersey and charged by Customs with conspiracy to import cannabis and conspiracy to export criminal property.

Both first appeared in the magistrate’s court on July 16, 2021 where jurisdiction was declined and both were admitted to bail.

Whitcombe returned to the court on July 19, 2021 when bail was refused, due to a fear of failing to respond to bail. He made a further bail application which was also refused on August 3, 2021.

Via counsel, he indicated guilty pleas to all charges on August 9, 2021.

The Jersey Evening Post reported that Julian Gollop, defending Whitcombe, said that there was ‘significant and exceptional mitigation which justified a non-custodial sentence’.

He told the court that Whitcombe had transformed his life following the historical smuggling operation and that he had supported several charities and receive widespread support - including from MPs - during his televised lockdown campaign.

But Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae said that both men where not young and acted as professional drug dealers.