A CONVICTED drug dealer is nearly £40,000 out of pocket today after a court seized his ill-gotten gains.Peter Greenwood was sentenced to six months in prison after police found cocaine in his Suffolk home.

A CONVICTED drug dealer is nearly £40,000 out of pocket today after a court seized his ill-gotten gains.

Peter Greenwood was sentenced to six months in prison after police found cocaine in his Suffolk home.

The 49-year-old, of Raedwald Drive, Bury St Edmunds, pleaded guilty to possessing the class A drug with intent to supply after being arrested in August 2003.

A year later - even though he has been released from prison - Greenwood is still paying the price of his crime.

Peter Gair, crown prosecutor and proceeds of crime specialist, said: "Under the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, any person who is convicted of certain offences, including drug trafficking, is deemed to have what's know as a criminal lifestyle.

"Any property that's been in their possession in the preceding six years is assumed to be the proceeds of their criminal activity.

"In the case of Greenwood, police discovered he had £37,726.30 in his possession yet was unable or unwilling to explain how he had earned this money."

At the hearing at Ipswich Crown Court, judge John Bevan agreed to the application from the Crown Prosecution Service and made the confiscation order.

This will now be paid to the treasury.

Mr Gair added: "This is another reminder to all those who commit crime for financial profit, including those who deal in drugs, that they can not only expect to receive a prison a prison sentence but their illegal assets will also be taken away from them.

"Working with the police, we're determined to make sure that crime doesn't pay in Suffolk."

What should the money be spent on? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk