Dealer must pay £10k - or spend longer in jail

A drug dealer jailed for four years in 2023 has been ordered to handover nearly £10,000 within three months - or face another year in prison.

Ashley Venmore, from the West Town area of Peterborough, was sent to prison in November 2023 after admitting 15 offences relating to drug dealing and fraud.

After his arrest about £7,000 in cash and designer goods were seized. Now Venmore has been ordered to hand over another £10,000 from his "available assets".

The money would go to the government, the Crown Prosecution Service, the courts and the police.

Venmore was arrested in Peterborough on 9 May 2023 after being caught driving while disqualified.

Investigations revealed a vast disparity in the money flowing through his bank accounts compared to how much he earned.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of possession with intent to supply class A drugs, 10 counts of fraud by false representation, possessing a false identity document and possession of criminal property.

Det Con Andy MacDonald, of Cambridgeshire Police, said Venmore's criminal business benefited the dealer "to the tune of £173,171.91".

He said: "While he has only been ordered to pay the remaining 'available' assets of £10,000, the full benefit figure will remain with him for life, meaning he will be liable to having any future assets confiscated if suitable.

He added a "significant drug dealer" had been "stripped of his illicit gains".

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