Ice cream man turned smuggler pays back £463,000

An ice cream man who turned to drugs smuggling, leading a gang who brought tons of cannabis into the West Midlands, will pay back more than £460,000 of his ill-gotten gains.

Michael Hartshorne led members of a "sophisticated and well-organised" gang who were jailed for more than 21 years for their involvement in the £90 million racket.

The 46-year-old, of Cemetery Road, Lye, is serving an 11-year prison term and was ordered in 2009 to pay back more than £461,000 after at a Proceeds of Crime hearing.

During a hearing at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday, that was reduced by £36,000.

But the court heard that because of inflation, it will mean him paying back £463,000 in total.

His defence barrister Stephen Hallman said: "Even if this application is successful, he will still owe more money. This is a Tesco approach in that every little helps."

Previous hearings heard how Hartshorne was in charge of the UK end of an operation linked to the Netherlands which brought millions of pounds of cannabis to the West Midlands between 2004 and 2006.

During his Proceeds of Crime hearing in 2009, he denied he had cash stashed away. Despite living in a council house and his payslip saying he only made £250 a week, the court heard the father-of-two spent a total of £140,850 on luxury cars as well as his ice cream van, worth £17,000.

He also gambled £288,000 at Castle Hill Casino, where he lost £206,000, spent £5,000 on a cruise and built a conservatory.