Overview
- Birmingham Crown Court issued the Proceeds of Crime Act order on 27 November, giving Steven Woolridge three months to pay or face an additional three months in prison.
- Prosecutors attributed £12,056,000 in criminal benefit to Woolridge, yet only £8,864.65 was judged available to seize.
- The court did not disclose the calculations behind the figures because they had been agreed by the prosecution and Woolridge’s legal team.
- Co-defendant Joe Whyley was assessed a £44,960 benefit as a wage and ordered to repay £760.03 after Judge Peter Cooke found he held a managerial role rather than ownership of the drugs.
- The case involves a network that moved hundreds of kilograms of cocaine into the West Midlands, resulting in more than 100 years of combined sentences and Woolridge’s 14-year, eight-month term earlier this year.