Drug dealer ordered to pay back more than £20,000

A drug dealer has been ordered to pay back more than £20,000.

Trishtan Douglin, 28, of Mikardo Way, Reading, was sentenced to three years and three months in prison at Reading Crown Court on August 9 this year.

He pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to supply cocaine, one count of possession with intent to supply heroin, and one count of money laundering.

In April, Douglin was a passenger in a car which was stopped in Reading by officers as part of a routine traffic stop.

He was carrying a rucksack with £3,700 inside. The cash was seized and held under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

About a week after the stop, on April 28, police executed a warrant under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 at Douglin’s home address.

There they found rucksacks containing class A drugs and a large amount of cash.

They also found knives, plastic wrap, bags, and weighing scales.

An investigation by the economic crime unit's asset recovery team began into where the cash came from and into Douglin’s finances.

In October, Reading Magistrates' Court ordered Douglin to pay back £12,592.62, which represented the cash that had been seized by police from the stop and at the warrant.

In a confiscation hearing at Reading Crown Court on Friday, a judge found Douglin had benefited by a further £35,000 from his crimes.

He was ordered to pay back £9,550 within six month or face a further six months in jail and still have to repay the cash.