Court orders seizure of £1.33 million found at Shropshire home

The forfeiture, which is the biggest ever achieved by the force, follows an application by the West Midlands Police Economic Crime Unit. Despite initial criminal proceedings being dropped, officers pursued the cash seizure through Proceeds of Crime Act.

Police believe the cash, discovered during a search at the Shropshire home of Phillip Hartill in December 2010, is derived from crime. The court accepted the police proposition that the money should be considered to be the proceeds of haulage theft.

The money was discovered by officers during a search warrant at an address in Highley in connection with an incident in the Black Country in November 2010, where a lorry driver had his load of televisions worth £250,000 stolen. The driver was later discovered dead in Dudley from a suspected heart attack. Nine men were convicted for offences linked to the robbery of the driver in January 2012.

During the inquiry officers searched the address in Highley and the cash was seized from a bedroom at the address. The occupant of the premises, Phillip Hartill, aged 56 was initially detained on suspicion of money laundering and handling stolen goods, but following extensive police enquiries was released and no criminal charges were brought against him.

However officers from the Economic Crime Unit proceeded with an inquiry and subsequent application under the Proceeds of Crime Act to confiscate the money.

Detective Sergeant Jonathan Jones from the Economic Crime Unit said: "This is an excellent outcome and demonstrates that police, supported by the courts, will use the Proceeds of Crime Act to confiscate any assets that have been obtained by criminal activity. This shows very effectively the power of Proceeds of Crime Act legislation. Today's result is the biggest cash forfeiture West Midlands Police has ever achieved and represents a serious blow to the criminal finances of Hartill and his associates."