Worksop: Over £8,000 stashed in a dirty sock and sandwich bags seized in drugs raid

Over £8,000 in cash seized during a drugs raid in Worksop last year has been forfeited this week.
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Officers from Notts Police originally visited a property in Hardwick Road East, Worksop, on Wednesday 18th June 2014 to execute a drugs warrant at the address, where a small amount of cannabis was seized.

After searching the property, officers also discovered 11 bundles of cash amounting to £8,340 which was hidden underneath a bed and secreted inside a cooler bag, coin bags, sandwich bags and a dirty sock.

The cash was seized pending a more thorough investigation by the Financial Investigation Unit, where the occupants alleged the cash had been raised from the sale of two caravans and an insurance pay out for a whiplash injury.

During the investigation, it was determined that £1,850 of the cash belonged to Nathan Newbury, 22, previously of Hardwick Road East, who is currently serving two years in prison for a distraction burglary at an elderly couple’s Worksop home in August 2014.

Despite no criminal proceedings being brought against two of the four occupants at the address, police made an application to the courts under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) to seize the whole amount recovered from the property.

On the strength of the evidence provided, the Forfeiture Order was granted at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Monday 19th January 2015.

Officers are now working with the courts to ensure the money belonging to Nathan Newbury is repaid as compensation to the elderly victims of his crime.

,Laura Hicking from Nottinghamshire Police’s Financial Investigation Unit said: “Often with these cases there is so much more than meets the eye, as we were able to prove by looking into the family’s explanations of how they came to acquire such a significant amount of cash.”

“This was an incredibly complex investigation, but an excellent example of how the force’s financial investigators and officers are able to follow-up additional lines of enquiry to ultimately show when money has not been obtained legitimately.”

“We hope this result not only shows the power of the Proceeds of Crime Act in the absence of criminal proceedings, but also how justice does not end with an offender being sent to prison.”

“We are now working hard to ensure that Nathan Newbury will be made to repay the elderly and vulnerable victims of his crime, as well as facing a substantial prison sentence.”

Nathan Newbury was sentenced to two years in prison for burglary at Nottingham Crown Court in September 2014. A Crown Court Confiscation Order was also made against him, enabling the courts to confiscate up to £3,000 of his assets.

Notts Police are now using that order to ensure the £1,850 belonging to him which was seized in June 2014 will be used to repay his victims.

The remaining £6,490 seized during the initial search of the address, which was claimed to have belonged to others at the address, will now be repaid to the Government with a percentage being retained by Notts Police as the prosecuting force.

Kevin Newbury, 52, also of Hardwick Road East, was charged with possession of a Class B drug on Friday 9th January. He is due to appear at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 12 February 2015.

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