Welsh rugby player turned drug dealer has £18,000 confiscated
A former RGC rugby captain turned drug dealer must repay about a quarter of the money he made from his crime. Maredudd Francis was convicted of possessing cocaine with intent to supply and jailed in January.
Today the 31-year-old appeared on a video link to Caernarfon Crown Court for a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing. Prosecutor Joshua Gorst said the benefit figure was £80,425.38 but the available amount to be confiscated was £18,121.96.
He said the £18,121.96 sum was from cash seized following Francis's arrest and that the money is currently "in the hands of the police". Mr Gorst applied for a confiscation order. You can sign up for all the latest court stories here
The judge His Honour Timothy Petts said that after extensive investigations it was "common ground" that £18,121.96 is all Francis has available to pay back. Granting the order, he set a "notional" period of three months for the defendant to pay the amount or face seven days imprisonment.
The judge said it was notional because there is nothing, in fact, that the defendant has to do to comply with the order. But he warned the defendant, of Coed Aben, Wrexham, that if further investigations show more of his assets are available the prosecution can apply to the courts for him to repay more than £18,121.96.
In January a court heard how Francis, a former rugby player turned drug dealer, drove at up to 139mph on a motorway as he tried to escape police. Packages were thrown out of his car before he collided with another car, injuring its passenger.
He admitted possession with intent to supply cocaine and cannabis and dangerous driving. He was jailed at Mold Crown Court for a total of four and a half years in that January hearing.
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