Fake cancer cure convict Noakes arrested on run in Cornwall

Disgraced ex Falmouth councillor David Noakes, 67, was used to a life of luxury after he made nearly £8 million selling GcMaf through his company Immuno Biotech.

But his empire came crashing down when he was jailed for 15 months after a raid uncovered his illegal supply that experts said were dangerous for unsuspecting users ordering it in their thousands online.

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He was released from HMP Wandsworth last year and launched a bizarre rant about "hard beds" and "awful food" in prison.

And he is now back behind bars after Dorset Police, who had been leading the hunt, confirmed he was arrested last Wednesday in Truro after a tip-off to police.

Officers had been searching for the former drug company boss since December when he failed to report to Bournemouth Police Station while on bail as he was fighting a judge's decision to extradite him.

Noakes, who was Falmouth town councillor for the Penwerris ward between May 2007 and January 2010, when he resigned due to work commitments, is now set to be extradited to France where he is subject to a European Arrest Warrant over nine alleged offences including marketing unauthorised medicines.

A Dorset Police spokesperson said: "Following the failure to attend [Bournemouth Police Station] as required, Dorset Police has been carrying out arrest enquiries to locate the individual.

"Following information received from a member of the public, he was arrested in the Truro area of Cornwall by officers from Devon and Cornwall Police on Wednesday, May 20, 2020 and has been recalled to prison."

Noakes is also facing confiscation proceedings at Southwark Crown Court.

A judge was set to rule on a confiscation order to strip Noakes of £1.4m on Friday, but following his arrest proceedings have now been adjourned until June 19.

The European warrant for Noakes's arrest relates to the sale and distribution of the cancer drug GcMAF from France.

He is accused of moving his business operation to Normandy in 2015 after his UK operation was shut down following a raid by the medicines regulator.

David Noakes was a Falmouth Town Councillor between 2007 and 2010

Noakes previously hit the headlines with his bizarre rant after his release from HMP Wandsworth.

The disgraced businessman, who spent around £1m of his ill-gained proceeds on planes, moaned about the rough conditions he was forced to endure inside.

Noakes, formerly of Guernsey but had moved to Dover, Kent, said: "It's put 20 years on me. The food was awful, so was the filth.

"The prison is built in 1851. Sometimes we were locked up 23 hours a day. I desperately needed the gym initially, but couldn't get any prison guards to unlock the cell doors. I gave up, then became too weak to use it anyway.

"My body, particularly my arms and shoulders, ache from the hard beds and pillows."

Noakes had been convicted of illegally making and distributed GcMAF globally from the UK.

Southwark Crown Court was told Guernsey-based Immuno Biotech sold the unlicensed human blood product through its website to an estimated 10,000 people - and marketed it as a cure for autism, HIV and cancer.

The supply was discovered during a raid by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) who warned the public the drug may pose a significant risk to people's health.

Noakes pleaded guilty to money laundering and manufacturing, supplying and selling an unlicensed medicine.

He was jailed in November last year for 12 months for the manufacture and sale of GcMaf with three months consecutive for money laundering.

The court previously heard that between 2011 and the MHRA raid, Immuno Biotech made £7.9m from the sale of products with Noakes spending nearly £1 million of it on planes.