A Cleethorpes man found out the hard way that crime doesn’t pay when he was ordered to pay a hefty confiscation order after financially benefiting from his criminal activity.
Stephen Robert WARD (54) of Bolingbroke Road in Cleethorpes was ordered to pay a total of £171,345.15 under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 at Grimsby Crown Court on Thursday 12 November 2009.
This came after police were called to an address in Grimsby following an incident in which Mr Ward was assaulted.
When officers went into a bedroom to find some clothing for Mr Ward, they also found over £600 in cash, 33½ bars of cannabis resin and 335g of amphetamine with a street value thought to be around £27,000.
He was convicted of possession with intent to supply cannabis and amphetamine and sentenced to 30 months imprisonment and refused to make a complaint in relation to the assault he had suffered.
As this was not the first time Mr Ward had been investigated and charged with a drugs related offence, Humberside Police conducted a confiscation investigation and found that despite not declaring any income to Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs and claiming benefits to which he was not entitled Mr Ward purchased a house for himself with his proceeds from crime and had significant savings in bank accounts.
The investigation found that Mr Ward had benefited from his criminal lifestyle netting himself over £200,000 over a six year period.
He now has to sell all of his assets and pay the confiscation order within six months or serve an additional 30 months imprisonment when his house can be forcibly sold.
Senior Financial Investigator Lorraine Baines said: “Stephen WARD has made a significant amount of money from his life of crime, from drug dealing to benefit fraud, and has invested these profits in a house and savings accounts. The message from Humberside Police to all those who commit any crime for financial gain is that they will be actively pursued and the profits taken from them.
“Marcus Czarnecki, North East Lincolnshire Neighbourhood Crime and Justice Co-ordinator said: “Criminals who adorn themselves with luxury goods at the expense of our young people’s lives, at the expense of the values of the law abiding majority and at the expense of common human integrity have to payback to the community from whom they pilfered and deceived. Humberside Police have done a great job bringing this man to very visible justice. This justice being seen to be done and from which our community will eventually benefit.”
PAYBACK
Recently a number of local community groups and organisations benefited from the “proceeds of crime”, they were:
1. Grimsby in Bloom - Combined Courts, Town Hall Square, Grimsby - £6,000
2. The Roundabout - St James House, St James Square, Grimsby - £7,000
3. East Marsh Gating Scheme - East Marsh Ward - Grimsby - £40,000
4. Sport Lincs – North East Lincolnshire - £32,000
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