7:10pm Friday 20th August 2010

http://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/8345225.Brother_cleared_of_laundering_drugs_money/

A Pennar man has been cleared by a judge of helping his drug-dealing brother to launder his money.

Carl Pemberton Phillips, aged 38, had been accused of helping his brother Martin to buy a £14,000 speedboat with money made from selling amphetamine.

He denied a charge of money laundering.

A jury at Swansea crown court heard how Martin Phillips, aged 42, had been jailed for nine years in 1996 for importing cocaine and conspiring to supply cannabis and amphetamine.

And last October he was jailed for 14 months for supplying amphetamine.

Nicola Powell, prosecuting, said Martin Phillips had wanted to pay the entire £14,000 in cash but was told that, because of money laundering regulations, Quadra Boats of Neyland could accept a maximum of £10,000 in cash.

Martin Phillips handed over £1,000 in cash as a deposit. Then, he gave his father in law, Jonathan Oak, £6,000 in cash which he took to a bank and exchanged for a banker's cheque.

Miss Powell said the brothers returned to the boatyard and gave Quadra Boats the banker's cheque.

The balance of £7,000 came in notes from a biscuit tin being carried by Carl Phillips.

Miss Powell said the name Carl Phillips was entered onto documents as the registered owner and correspondence was addressed to his home in Stranraer Road, Pennar.

And when Martin Phillips took the Catrinia back to Quadra Boats for a service in March of this year he paid the £481 bill in cash but had the documentation sent to his brother's address.

Carl Phillips told the jury his brother had not worked for a living or signed on for benefits and he was aware that he had a history of dealing in drugs.

But he did not know where the £14,000 had come from.

He said that because of the medication he had been taking he could not remember ever seeing the cash, or visiting the boatyard or signing any documents.

"The only thing I can think of is that Martin caught me on the hop and took advantage of me," he said.

The jury could not reach a verdict.

Miss Powell said the Crown Prosecution Service would not seek a retrial and Judge John Diehl entered a former verdict of not guilty.

Martin Phillips served the custodial element of his 14 month sentence but has since been recalled to jail for failing to satisfy a Proceeds of Crime order confiscating his profits from dealing in drugs.

The Catrinia ended up in the hands of Dyfed-Powys police.