Thursday, April 25, 2024
In BriefPrisoner who set up drug deals from behind bars hit with £40K...

Prisoner who set up drug deals from behind bars hit with £40K confiscation order

A DRUG dealer has been hit with a confiscation order for almost £40,000 – including £10,000 for his gold Rolex watch.

Paul McIntyre masterminded deliveries of cocaine and heroin while behind bars in Edinburgh’s Saughton jail.

The 28-year-old, originally from Liverpool, was jailed for a further nine-and-a-half years in January this year, after originally being caged for other drug offences.

He used mobile phones to arrange drug shipments from Liverpool to Edinburgh and Glasgow.

But police intercepted the deliveries in 2011, and detectives found out he had made £153,000 over six years.

He has now been billed under the Proceeds of Crime Act for £39,725, as much as is available just now.

A Crown Office spokesman denied reports McIntyre had the watch confiscated but said he could have to sell his watches and any other goods to pay the bill.

Lindsey Miller, Head of the Serious and Organised Crime Division (SOCD), said: “Paul McIntyre contributed to the operation of a drugs network from behind bars in Edinburgh.

“His conviction for the supply of illegal drugs means that he is deemed to have a ‘criminal lifestyle’ under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

This entitles us to assess his income for six years prior to the date of the offence.

“After this analysis, £153,000 could not be accounted for legitimately.

“Today’s confiscation order for almost £40,000 represents the full amount of these illegal profits available to us at this time.  It should be stressed that, should McIntyre obtain any cash or assets in the future, in certain circumstances we can ask the court to recalculate the confiscation order up to the amount of the benefit recorded.

“The money will be added to the £60 million already gathered from Proceeds of Crime and will be re-invested in the community by Scottish Ministers, through the CashBack for Communities programme.”

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