Shropshire pair deny part in alleged £8m CD fraud conspiracy

Two Shropshire men told police that they were not part of an alleged £8 million conspiracy to defraud leading music companies, Wolverhampton Crown Court has heard.

Shaun Norton and Cary Evans had been involved with Newport Plastic Recycling Ltd when thousands of CDs and DVDs were sold on instead of being destroyed.

A jury has heard that five barns at two Shropshire farms were used to store hundreds of pallets loaded with CDs, DVDs and videos that were being distributed around the country.

Norton, 38, of Powell Place, Newport, and Evans, 49, of Longfield Terrace, Minsterley, Shrewsbury, along with two others, deny conspiring together, and with Harold Pearce and William Cartwright (who has since died), to defraud music industry companies between January 2001 and December 2006.

A court yesterday heard details of police interviews during 2006 and 2007 before the defendants were charged. Norton said he had signed destruction notices for some of the material and claimed he had been 'told to do so' by owner Bill Cartwright and had only received wages.

Evans said he had run a plastics company but it had never crossed his mind not to recycle material and sell it on. He denied any financial dealings with the other defendants or being involved in the sale or disposal of discs.

The trial continues.