Jailed drug dealer forfeits £3,737 “ill-gotten gains”

MORE than £3,500 has been seized from a convicted drug dealer following a hearing at Warrington Combined Court centre.
Callum Scanlan, 27, was jailed for six years in July, after being arrested after police discovered drugs with a street value of around £20,000 at High Legh.
Police found cannabis and cocaine at an address in Rensherds Place, High Legh, together with a Taser stun gun and quantities of benzocaine, a cutting agent used in the supply of cocaine, a £1,672 in cash.
Scanlan admitted that the drugs belonged to him and was arrested at the property.
He was released under investigation pending forensic enquiries but later was arrested again at Knutsford for driving a vehicle under the influence of cocaine.
Some cannabis and £2,065 in cash was found in the car and a subsequent search of Scanlan’s home address at Winsford revealed a large bag of the class B drug.
Scanlan was subsequently charged with three counts of possessing a class B drug with intent to supply, one count of possessing a class A drug with intent to supply and two counts of drug driving.
He was also charged with possessing a prohibited weapon – the Taser – and ammunition without a firearm certificate.
Scanlan pleaded guilty to all of the charges at Chester Crown Court and on top of his six-year prison sentence he was banned from driving for four years and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £170.
A total amount of £3,737 seized from Scanlan was yesterday subject to a civil forfeiture at Warrington Combined Court.
Scanlan claimed that the bulk of the money seized was raised through the sale of puppies but there was no evidenced provided of this and magistrates concluded that the entire sum represented the proceeds of Scanlan’s drug related criminal conduct.
Some of the forfeited money will return to Cheshire Police to be used in the continuing battle against drug related crime.
Sergeant Lynsey Jackson said Scanlan had been brought to justice and his ill-gotten gains seized following extensive work by police.
“Drugs have blighted communities across the UK and cause untold damage to the lives of both people who get addicted to them and the wider community who suffer from the resulting crime.
“Cheshire Police will not stand by and let this happen.”