No jail for gang courier caught with £130k cash under his bed
A crime gang courier caught with more than £30,000 cash in his car had another £130,000 hidden under his bed, a judge heard.
Police and customs officers secretly kept watch as a dark package were transferred to Dayne Allcott's Mercedes from another car at a rendezvous close to Junction 11 of the M6 near Cannock on January 6 last year, Wolverhampton Crown Court.
The 29-year-old was stopped soon afterwards and the parcel was found to contain a shoe box holding £30,232, explained Mr Ian Ball, prosecuting.
An Adidas holdall with £132,880 cash in it and an electric cash counting machine were found under the defendant's bed at his home in Mattox Road, Wednesfield.
The search also unearthed a ledger with hand written details of money laundering between December 13 2016 and early January 2017, the court heard.
Next to January 4 was the figure £317,645 while there were two entries for £100,00 and £19,995 written alongside the date January 5, revealed Mr Ball.
But the prosecution accepted the defendant's explanation that the numbers and dates were dictated to him over the phone.
It was also agreed that the incident had been a one off for which he was paid £500.
Mr Talbir Singh, defending, said: "He accepted the recruitment wholeheartedly and entered into it with both eyes open.
"He was acting under direction but that does not mean he had a great understanding of how the money was acquired."
Allcott - jailed in 2015 for attempting to get 499 personal protection sprays - dropped out of university and joined the family engineering business which had run into 'difficulties' before the opportunity arose, it was said.
The defendant admitted being in possession of £163,110 proceeds of crime and was told by Judge Simon Ward: "Somebody involved in a professional money laundering operation trusted you enough to allow you to act as a courier for over £30,000, a custodian for more than £130,000 and to look after their books.
"That is a serious amount of trust from those involved in serious crime.
"There is a big difference between being a serious criminal and helping them with their ill gotten gains.
"You have pleaded guilty on the basis of being paid £500 to courier some money and look after more cash and a document detailing money laundering. I remain faithful to that while passing sentence."
Allcott was given a 10-month jail term suspended for two years with 160 hours unpaid work. He was ordered to pay £1,600 costs.
