Confiscation Order against Geoff Hyde at Inner London Crown Court stopped by Judge Simon Davies.
Initial conviction was November 2006 at the same court. Found guilty by jury of conspiracy to supply 77kg of cocaine. Sentenced to 22 years.
Co-defendants (who Geoff Hyde did not know) were John Town, who admitted charge and was sentenced to 12 years, and Francisco Ibanez Cantero who was found guilty and sentenced to 18 years.
Upon conviction Crown Prosecution Service sought permission from judge to seize Geoff hyde's assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act. This despite their own financial investigator later showing all his assets had come from legitimate means - ie almost four decades of running a haulage business.
Total assets included family home (home of wife Gillian and Ruari Hyde), pension, one-bedroom flat in Spain, assets related to business, Hyde Transport.
Judge threw out the order on July 10 2009 because CPS had repeatedly failed to submit paperwork to the court or defence, or respond to letters and emails, therefore failing to enter what the judge described as 'The Spirit of the Act'.
Paul Dietrich, Deputy Editor of the South London Press, said: "The Prosecution investigated Geoff Hyde's finacial affairs and found nothing that was not the result of running a haulage business for almost four decades. Despite this, the law allows for his assets to be seized, so Geoff's family is grateful for small mercies and no longer faces the further injustice of being made homeless and penniless.
The CPS failed to enter the spirit of the act here, just as they failed to carry out a thorough investigation into the case. Had they done so, an innocent man would not be in prison.
Miscarriages of justice are a frightening fact of life in this country and we are now concentrating on over turning his conviction and giving him a right to the fair trial he did not receive in 2006."