Cancer 'cure' distributed in household flasks

Lorraine Noakes helped to distribute blood plasma product, a court heard

A woman distributed a so-called cancer cure after keeping it in household flasks, a court has heard.

Lorraine Noakes helped her estranged husband distribute blood plasma product GcMAF worldwide.

It was packed in Noakes's garage at a rented property in Bournemouth from 2013, Southwark Crown Court was told.

Noakes, 58, is due to be sentenced this week after she admitted selling the unlicensed substance under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012.

Cure 'exaggeration'

Noakes, of Ringwood, Hampshire, separated from her husband in 2007 but did not divorce, the court heard.

She suffered a breakdown in 2011 and left her job, leaving her in "pretty dire" financial circumstances.

By 2013, Noakes was distributing GcMAF to customers worldwide after keeping it cool in flasks brought from the home retailer Wilko, the court heard.

Her husband, David Noakes, of Waldershare, Dover, Kent, claimed the product could cure a range of illnesses, including cancers, HIV and autism.

Noakes admitted she had heard his claims but "hadn't seen any actual proof" and thought it "exaggeration".

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The supply of GcMAF, via David Noakes' company based in Guernsey, was discovered after a Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency raided a Cambridge laboratory in January 2015,

It led to him being charged in July 2017 with conspiracy to manufacture a medicinal product without a licence.

He pleaded guilty to manufacturing, selling and supplying an unlicensed medicine, and to one count of money laundering, at an earlier hearing.

Despite guilty pleas, an ongoing Newton hearing has heard Lorraine Noakes' defence lawyer dispute facts in the case, including whether she burnt documents. The hearing continues.

She and David Noakes are due to be sentenced this week.