Jail threat for man with stash of illegal cash

Last updated 19:41, Thursday, 12 June 2008

A WORKINGTON man has been ordered to pay back £28,000 of illegally-gained cash.

James Brian Marr, 66, of Glen Road, has been given six months to pay the money back, or he could face 14 months in prison.

Last July he was convicted for the possession of counterfeit goods under the Proceeds of Crime Act after being caught with a box full of forged £20 notes.

He said at the time that he was given the notes in exchange for some furniture and jewellery which he sold to a traveller called Joe.

And it was only much later, on noticing that all the notes had the same serial number, that he realised they were fake.

He was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, put under a four-month curfew to stop him going out at night, and was also ordered to pay £400 court costs.

Marr was told to reappear at Carlisle Crown Court following an investigation by Cumbria police’s financial investigation unit.

On Monday he was told by Judge Barbara Forrester that he must pay the cash back by December 5.

It is the latest in a series of Cumbrian cases using Proceeds of Crime legislation.