Court blocks siezure of drug conviction haulier's assets
Judge rules Crown prosecution Service failed to prove Geoff Hyde's assets were proceeds of crime.
Geoff hyde, the London haulier facing a 22 year sentence for cocaine trafficking, whose case was highlighted in the Guardian's justice on trial series, has won an important court victory in his on-going campaign to prove his innocence.
A judge ruled that the Crown Prosecution service had failed to prove that his assets were the proceeds of crime, and turned down an application for their confiscation. Attempts had been made to sieze any available assets but it was decided that his Surrey home, a small flat in Spain and his lorries, valued at a total of about £900,000, were the result of a successful 30-year career as a haulier rather than an international drugs baron.
Hyde started his business in 1974 and with the aid of a 13-strong work force built it up enough to be able to pay himself a six-figure salery. He was arrested in 2006 mainly on the basis of his telephone contact with a driver whose lorry later turned out to have 77 kilos of cocaine on board. He has always protested his innocence and hopes to have his conviction overturned.
The judge Simon Davies, as reported by Private Eye, ruled that the CPS had failed to produce documentary evidence to support thrir claims that his assets came from crime. This victory means that Hyde and his legal team can now concentrate on the original charge.
This article was written by Bob Woffinden and published on guardian.co.uk at 12.25 BST on Monday 17 2009.