Telford drugs courier spared financial hit for crime
A drug courier from Shropshire who was caught by police officers with nearly £40,000 worth of cocaine in his van after being stopped on the M54 will not have to hand a penny over to police, a court has ruled.
Judge Robin Onions dismissed a Proceeds of Crime hearing for Gareth Hart at Shrewsbury Crown Court on the basis he had only acted as a courier and had not directly profited from the drugs.
Hart, 34, of The Rock, Telford, told police he had driven "down south" to pick the package up before bringing it back to the county to be cut up and sold.
It was claimed it was a way of paying off a debt.
During the original case, the court heard Hart agreed to transport the drugs as a way of paying off drug debts accrued by a £20 a week cocaine habit.
He threw the bag containing the drugs out of his van after being stopped by officers on the motorway on November 16 last year.
It was later recovered and found to contain nearly 700 grammes of cocaine with an estimated street value of between £34,000 and £40,000.
Hart pleaded guilty to possessing class A drugs with intent to supply and was jailed for three years at Shrewsbury Crown Court in January this year.
At the original hearing Judge Onions said the offence had been aggravated by the fact he had sent Hart to prison for 30 months in 2007 for exactly the same offence.
On that occasion, the court heard, Hart was caught selling cocaine to two undercover police officers in a Telford pub.
His defence barrister yesterday said he had not profited at all from the drugs and still owed the debt he was meant to be paying off by acting as a courier.
And Judge Onions, sitting at court yesterday, dismissed the claim for confiscation of cash.
He said: "He was sentenced on the clear understanding he was a courier, and not the supplier of drugs."
