At the High Court in Edinburgh today a Confiscation Order for £45,279.02 was made against William Woods Byrne (DOB 13/12/1984)
In October 2010 Byrne, who was born in Greenock and resided in Prestwick, was convicted of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs and jailed for four and a half years.
The conviction followed an intelligence led police operation “Salute” where surveillance showed that he was at the heart of an organised criminal operation of industrial proportions and relating to the large scale acquisition of controlled drugs for distribution throughout Scotland
The court ruled that, by virtue of his conviction he had a criminal lifestyle. This meant that the court was entitled to consider that income and assets he obtained during the six years prior to the date of the offence were the proceeds of crime, and to take these into account when determining the amount of the confiscation order.
Following the hearing, Lesley Thomson, COPFS POCA Champion and Area Procurator Fiscal for Glasgow, said:
“William Byrne was part of a criminal organisation intent on flooding the streets with cocaine, and the misery it brings with it. The fact that he is now behind bars with his profits from crime confiscated should be of some comfort to people in communities across Scotland.
“Drug dealers are a scourge on society and will not be tolerated. Working in partnership with other agencies, and using the Proceeds of Crime Act, we will continue to prosecute them to the full extent of the law, remove them from the streets and strip them of their assets.”
