Over £30,000 cash seized from a house in Skelmersdale

Jun 25 2009 by Gemma Jaleel, Skelmersdale Advertiser

MORE than £30,000 cash was seized from a man in Skelmersdale after he was found in possession of Class B drugs.

Paul Burton, 39, of Egerton in Tanhouse was stopped by a uniformed officer in the early hours of January 31, 2009.

The officer found a small amount of amphetamine in Burton’s possession and decided to make a search of his home.

There they found £31,912.20 in cash which has now been seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Burton initially stated the cash was from the importation of tobacco from the continent and from his building firm but failed to provide any documentation to support this.

Last Friday (June 19) Chorley magistrates listened to the police evidence and decided that the money was most probably linked to criminal conduct and granted police forfeiture of the cash under PoCA. Š

The Proceeds of Crime Act (PoCA) 2002 has given police powers to strip criminals of assets acquired through crime. The Act is aimed at disrupting criminal enterprise and reducing crime.

Under this legislation, a person with apparent wealth beyond their means and who is shown on the balance of probabilities to have been engaged in criminality can be called upon to explain their wealth.