Cannabis dealer must sell car to repay profits from selling drugs in Ilfracombe, judge says
The man made more than £10,000 from selling cannabis in Ilfracombe.
The man made more than £10,000 from selling cannabis in Ilfracombe.
A DRUG dealer has been ordered to sell his car so he can repay the money he made out of selling cannabis in Ilfracombe.
Russell Morgan was found with £2,430 cash and drugs worth £3,300 which were found by police in a Corn Flakes box and in an alley beneath a window.
He also had unexplained payments of more than £5,000 into his bank account, Exeter Crown Court was told.
Morgan, 43, of High Street, Ilfracombe, admitted possession of cannabis with intent to supply and received a 12 months suspended sentence in February last year.
He has now been ordered to repay £4,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act or serve a seven month jail sentence in default.
Morgan did not appear at the short hearing before Judge Phillip Wassall at which the prosecution applied for the confiscation order.
The judge agreed that Morgan's total benefit from crime was £10,962 but his available assets were just £4,000.
Sally Daulton, for the prosecution, said the benefit figure was calculated by adding the £3,333 value of the drugs seized, £5,210 in unexplained bank credits, and £2,430 cash found during the police raid.
She said the £4,000 assets consisted of the cash, which is still held by the police, and the value of a car owned by Morgan.
Judge Wassall said: "Russell Morgan has failed to respond with any information and has had proper notice of these proceedings.
"He has failed to attend so I am prepared to deal with this on the basis of the only information available to me. He had the opportunity to challenge the evidence and has not done so."
Morgan was arrested after police found 11.97 grams of cannabis in a raid on March 19, 2012. One lump was found hidden in a cereal packet and a second worth £2,700 was found in an alley where he had thrown it as police entered his flat.
http://www.northdevonjournal.co.uk 02/06/2014
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