A COCAINE dealer has been ordered to repay almost £10,000 of what a judge has ruled are the ill-gotten gains of the crook’s criminal conduct.
Paul Barcock, 56, was jailed for 54 months at Carlisle Crown Court in January for offending which was exposed after police attended his Maryport home and forced open the door.
Just under 280g of cocaine – with an estimated street value of £10,360 – was seized from his address, along with drug-related paraphernalia. Barcock admitted to police at the time he should “pack a bag ready for prison”, and later confessed he had peddled the illegal drug to people he knew. He also spoke of a personal £180-a-day cocaine habit and his gambling.
Barcock was sent to prison in January, and police set about scrutinising his criminal lifestyle as they sought to claw back cash amassed through the dodgy dealing. They did so through Proceeds of Crime Act legislation which aims to prevent crooks profiting from their offending.
Barcock was absent at the crown court today (WED) but was represented by a barrister as a judge ruled the total financial benefit from his crime was £156,818.71. His available assets were said to be £9,739.90.
Recorder Ahmed Nadim ordered Barcock, previously of Wood Street, Maryport, to pay back the latter sum of cash within three months – or face a further six-month jail term in default.
