Ex-BBC producer ‘fled across roof during London drug raid’

Former BBC producer Alexander Parkin is in court on drug dealing charges after police found a stash of illegal substances at his flat

An award-winning ex-BBC Radio 3 producer fled across rooftops when police raided his London flat which was packed with drugs, a court heard.

Alexander Parkin, 42, stashed more than £13,000 worth of drugs – including crystal meth, ecstasy and GBL – and offered them for sale at his fourth fourth-floor flat in Manchester Street, Marylebone, it is claimed.

Parkin and suspected drug dealers Bogdan Ceampelea, 27, and Ioana Costache, 28, were caught with 6.82 litres of GBL – known as ‘liquid ecstasy’ – following a search on 28 September last year, a court heard.

Officers then found more than £11,000 worth of class A, B and C drugs hidden in hollowed out candles, concealed cupboards and a safe at Parkin’s flat.

The Oxford graduate, who won nine Sony awards for his work with the BBC, insists the narcotics were for ‘personal use’ and says he bought them in bulk to save money.

But prosecutors claim they were ‘were intended to be sold or certainly would have been sold if the opportunity arose’ on London’s gay ‘chemsex’ scene.

Parkin and Costache are standing trial for possession of drugs with intent to supply at Southwark Crown Court.

Mr Ceampelea, a former Transport for London worker, was due to stand trial alongside them, but he died on September 11.

Ioana Costache (left) is also standing trial. Bogdan Ceampelea (right) was due to stand trial but has since died

Prosecutor Karl Volz told jurors: ‘There is a third man who unfortunately as you can see from the agreed facts died on the 11 September this year.

‘He also was involved we say in this enterprise in relation to drugs.

‘For the large part these drugs are part of what’s broadly known as the chemsex drugs scene, a club scene which is closely – at least by association – related to the gay community in clubs in London.’

When officers broke down Parkin’s door on September 28 last year, he wriggled through a ceiling hatch and escaped with Ceampelea and Costache, jurors heard.

The trio ran across rooftops and made it down to the street using scaffolding on a nearby building as police struggled to break down the heavy door with a metal battering ram and crow bars, it is said.

‘There was a relatively sophisticated entry system there, in fact the door took a long time to bash down,’ explained Mr Volz.

‘Most normal doors wouldn’t take that long for the police to bash down, there may have been some sort of reinforcement there.’

Parkin and two others fled his home in this central London street when police arrived

As officers tried to gain entry they heard ‘numerous people moving around quickly’, jurors heard.

‘Police shouted open the door but to no effect,’ added Mr Volz.

Hours later all three suspects were arrested with 6.82 litres of GBL in a Volvo near Parkin’s two-bedroom flat on Kennington Park Road, Vauxhall, south London.

Jurors were told the class C drug is used legitimately as an alloy cleaner and solvent and although it was never intended for human consumption it is ‘the chemsex drug of choice’.

During the police raid in November, officers found 12g of crystal meth, 19 tablets and 133.3g of powdered MDMA and six litres of GBL hidden around Parkin’s flat.

A number of bank statements and documents in Parkin’s name and five weighing scales covered in traces of white powder were also found.

Mr Volz said: ‘Why? For what purpose? We all have, no doubt, weighing scales in the kitchen for cooking purposes. It’s to weigh out drugs for dealing, we say.’

Parkin was questioned at Belgravia Police station and said the drugs were for personal use

When Parkin was arrested and interviewed at Belgravia Police Station, he said: ‘The drugs found today at my property belong to me and are mine for personal use.

‘I take drugs daily just to make me feel normal so that I can function. I buy the drugs in bulk as it works out much cheaper – a fraction of the price.’

The defendant said he used the weighing scales ‘to find out exactly how much I’m buying and how much I’m using’.

Parkin, who previously worked on Radio 3’s World Routes programme, denies five counts of possessing drugs with intent to supply.

Two of the charges relate to class A drugs, one relates to a class B drug, and the final two relate to class C drugs.

Costache, of Greenwich, south-east London, also denies one count of possessing a class C drug with intent to supply. The trial continues.

 

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