An academic has been found guilty of six charges of smuggling huge quantities of cocaine.

Gabriel Solomons, 64, of Bull Street, Aston, near Witney, was jailed for a total of 24 years at Isleworth Crown Court, London, yesterday.

Solomons, who styled himself 'doctor', and claimed to have a PhD from Manchester University, was caught as much by his vanity as by the fact that he made six trips to Nigeria in as many months.

He was found to have almost 50kg of the drug stuffed into dried fish when he flew into Heathrow in September last year.

Police found £388,000 in cash, heavily stained with drugs, at his home.

He kept a detailed diary describing his trips and anxieties, and containing references to the Almighty such as 'Grateful to the heavenly Father for the wonderful increase he has granted us in our business', prosecutor Alison Ginn said.

He lived in a £750,000 house, ran three cars and had a chauffeur, a housekeeper and a nanny for his two children.

Solomons denied six charges of being concerned in the smuggling of cocaine between February and his arrest on September 5 last year.

In mitigation, Rock Tansy QC, defending, pleaded his age, poor health and the fact that he could die in prison.

Judge Jonathan Lowen said: "You, as an educated man, have expressed strong religious belief and it is very difficult to see any apparent reason for what you did, other than your personal greed.

"You have enriched yourself sufficiently to lead a very extravagant lifestyle."

His wife Emma faces trial for related money laundering in Oxford in May or June.