MAGISTRATES have ruled that more than £17,500 found in a car was derived from crime and must be seized.

At a Proceeds Of Crime Act hearing on Friday, magistrates ruled that £17,534.95 should be forfeited after it was found in a Vauxhall Corsa driven by Shaun Andrew Illingworth, 26, of Imperial Court, Ashton Avenue, York.

The court heard police stopped the Corsa at about 6.20pm on September 20, last year, after following it along the A64 near Tadcaster. Officers followed the car onto Grange Lane in York before it came to a stop near some isolated houses.

Officers intercepted the occupants of the car who were Shaun Illingworth and another man. A search of the Corsa was carried out with the assistance of a police search dog and £17,510 was found inside the glove box in a supermarket carrier bag.

Both men were searched under the Misuse of Drugs Act, but police said there was insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against them. However, a lengthy financial investigation showed the money could not have been earned through legitimate means, and an application was made for the forfeiture of the money.

Detective Inspector Ian Wills, who heads North Yorkshire Police’s Financial Investigation Unit, said: “A significant amount of criminal money has been seized and prevented from being used to fund future criminal activity.”

The court ordered the forfeiture of the money, plus interest of £24.95, on the grounds that it was derived from crime.