Officers found so many performance enhancing substances when they raided Brian Connolly’s house that the police budget could not cover the cost of counting them

A 60-year-old bodybuilder who peddled steroids from his kitchen cupboard was caught with a stash worth £30,000. Officers found so many performance enhancing substances when they raided Brian Connolly’s house that the police budget could not cover the cost of counting them, Manchester Crown Court heard. In a police interview, massive muscled Connolly admitted that he injected himself with steroids up to 40 times a week – and said after 25 years of using, he “couldn’t live without them”. Analysis of his phone then revealed he had been dealing them to others. He went on to admit possessing class C drugs with intent to supply and was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, with six months supervision, by a court which heard he was changing his ways. Hummer-driving Connolly is a well-respected figure in UK bodybuilding, a fixture on the competitive circuit and a personal trainer. Last year he came first in the National Amateur Bodybuilders Association contest, in the Masters category for over-50s. But Connolly’s sentencing for drugs offences heard that the sport – and years of steroid use – have taken a toll on his body. Eight officers raided his home in Salford, Greater Manchester, on the morning of April 30 last year with a drugs warrant.

Told that they would be searching the premises for steroids and asked if there were any on the premises, he replied “Yes, in the kitchen”, and pointed to the cupboard. Along with the cache of steroids, diet pills, and cancer drugs used to counter the effects, a total of £11,400 in cash was seized from the property. Prosecutor Phil Dobson said: “When asked about the steroids, the defendant said he’d been using them for 25 years and had just come out of hospital, having been treated for taking too many steroids, which has happened several times. “He said he was afraid if he stopped taking them his body would go to pieces because his joints had been weakened by steroid use, so he felt he needed to carry on taking them to keep his muscles tight. “He said he is addicted to steroids and it had become his way of life to take them all the time. He said most bodybuilders took steroids for 12 weeks then came off them for six weeks, but he’d stayed on them for a year without a break. “Whatever he could get hold of, he always bought in bulk.” http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bodybuilding-champion-aged-60-sold-5961037