Cocaine boss ran UK-wide empire from jail while wife flaunted wealth—now both are locked up

From the cold confines of a UK prison cell, Richard Brookhouse was running a multi-million-pound cocaine empire with the ease of a corporate CEO. But this wasn’t a boardroom venture—it was one of Britain’s most brazen and profitable drug smuggling networks, shifting half a ton of cocaine with an estimated street value of £100 million.

All while serving a 22-year sentence for earlier drug offences.

Brookhouse wasn’t just passing time behind bars—he was orchestrating operations, coordinating with drug gangs from Manchester and Liverpool during scheduled days out of prison. Under the cover of “rehabilitative outings,” he plotted drug movements, including shipments disguised as harmless fishing trips. Authorities believe the syndicate operated seamlessly across regional boundaries, funnelling industrial volumes of cocaine into UK streets.

But if Brookhouse was the mastermind, his wife Diane was the face of the fortune.

Living like a tabloid celebrity, Diane turned their drug money into designer shoes, Botox injections, and luxury hair treatments—all while claiming to live off benefits. Her shopping sprees and makeovers became so routine, that neighbours thought she’d married a millionaire, not a convict.

In reality, she had.

Diane flaunted the wealth her husband was generating illegally, cruising through town in luxury cars and splashing cash with impunity. But like all criminal fairytales, the end came hard—and fast.

The breakthrough for investigators came in 2013 with a major cocaine seizure that peeled back the layers of Brookhouse’s drug ring. Detectives followed the threads to an intricate operation that had managed to stay hidden for years. The trail led not only to Brookhouse and Diane but also to an entourage of loyal henchmen—including former boxing champion Carl Wall, who used his status to mask deeper criminal ties.

One by one, the dominoes fell. A courtroom reckoning saw the entire syndicate sentenced to a collective 247 years in prison.

Brookhouse and Diane now sit on opposite ends of a broken dream, their empire in ruins. What was once a life of excess, vanity and underworld prestige is now a cautionary tale of greed and delusion.

For authorities, it’s a win against a formidable network. For the public, it’s a reminder that no matter how glamorous crime may look, the consequences are brutal—and inevitable.