Drug baron lived champagne lifestyle alongside celebrities before 'perfect life' crumbled

A drug baron lived a champagne lifestyle and rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous after making millions peddling cocaine.

University-educated Keith Shea and his wife Sara - who helped him launder the dirty cash - enjoyed a lavish lifestyle after earning £4,089,545 while people's lives were ruined through his supply of theaddictive Class A drug.

However, they earned far more and blew most of it on a jet set lifestyle - splashing out thousands on luxury holidays, expensive jewellery and designer clothes.

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They spent £12,000 on flights to Barbados, where they tied the knot, before dropping another £6,000 for a party at the luxury Hillbark Hotel in Wirral.

Police eventually raided their home in Wallasey, where they found £12,000 worth of handbags, £100,000 his-and-hers Chopard watches, and a Skorpion sub machine gun.

A £110,000 Aston Martin was parked on their driveway, alongside a £76,000 Porsche and a £46,500 BMW. Moreover, Shea would have a chauffeur drive him from their grand detached house in Wallasey all the way to London to dine at the most exclusive and fashionable restaurants.

He was also frequently spotted in front row seats and corporate hospitality boxes at major sporting events worldwide - including the favourite of the super-rich, the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix.

When police examined the accounts, forensic accountants determined that Keith Shea had profited by £3,971,660 from his crimes, while his wife had gained an additional £117,885.

However, their facade of a perfect life crumbled when the seemingly respectable baron was spotted by police leaving a lock-up garage. The officers swooped in on the garage where Shea would stash and package class A drugs.

Upon his arrest, police discovered 3,128 ecstasy tablets inside a toolbox, alongside amphetamine paste, a significant amount of cocaine, the cutting agent benzocaine, scales, food mixers, and a hydraulic press, as reported by the ECHO.

After Shea's apprehension in January 2007, Liverpool Crown Court was told that the street value of his drug cache was a staggering £4.4 million.

A subsequent search of Shea's Wirral residence led to suspicions he was planning an upscale move to "footballer's row" with an £800,000 mansion in Caldy – a neighbourhood favoured by Merseyside's Premier League footballers – after an estate agent's brochure was found on his coffee table.

Police also uncovered photos of Shea and his cronies enjoying corporate hospitality at the 2006 Open Golf Championship in Hoylake, and family tickets for the Cricket World Cup in Barbados.

Shea had forked out £30,000 in cash for the Barbados trip but was arrested before he could take flight.

Court hearings later disclosed that Shea utilised various locations for drug packaging and distribution, including a Wallasey flat on Sandringham Drive where a wardrobe concealed an array of firearms. His lethal collection included a loaded Skorpion sub-machine gun, revolvers, a silencer, and a magazine.

Found alongside the firearms were hollow bullets, designed to expand on impact.

Shea admitted to conspiracy to supply cocaine, ecstasy and amphetamine. He also entered guilty pleas for six counts of possessing prohibited firearms and four counts of having ammunition without a certificate, resulting in a 15-year prison sentence.

Julian Nutter, defending, informed the court that Shea had been drawn into the drug trade after becoming a user himself. He mentioned Shea's remorse and the fact that his wife was divorcing him due to his criminal activities.

His wife was subsequently imprisoned for two-and-a-half years for her role in laundering his illicit earnings. Insp Ian Shaw, from Merseyside Police, commented at the sentencing: "Shea is one of those characters that really sticks in the public's throat. He lived this extravagant lifestyle with all the trimmings yet had no visible means of support.

"He had the cars, the house and was at any sporting event you care to mention. His extravagances show exactly the kind of cash Shea had to throw around.

"We found evidence linking his drugs network right across the UK, from Merseyside to Devon and Cornwall. And from our investigations, he had dealt in at least 100 kilos of cocaine – worth in the region of £5m.

"Shea is university educated and well-spoken but along with dealing in drugs there was a much more sinister side to him. We recovered numerous firearms during our investigations, including a Scorpion machine pistol with silencer, which is a very nasty piece of kit."

Shea most recently emerged when he was photographed at a charity gala held at Wirral's upmarket Thornton Hall Hotel in 2015. Sporting black tie attire, Shea beamed for cameras at the £720-per-table, three-course fundraising event.