Garage boss who sold drugs 'to pay for wife's boob job' forced to pay back £100,000
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A garage boss who sold Class A drug s to afford a boob job for his beautician wife has been ordered to pay back over £100,000.
Ashley Wilkin, 29, claimed he started peddling crack and cocaine after running up a £40,000 debt with a loan shark.
A court heard the mechanic borrowed £25,000 to fund his lavish wedding to wife Bailey, but did not tell her about the loan “because she would hit the roof.”
Wilkin, of Erdington,Birmingham, also splashed out £10,000 on a boob job and tummy tuck for his wife, purchased a Mercedes and a Harrods store card.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to supply and was jailed for three years and nine months at Birmingham Crown Court in April.
Wilkin has been now been ordered to pay back a total of £109,000 following a Proceeds of Crime hearing at the same court.
Today West Midlands Police said they had seized £2million of ill-gotten gains in less than a year.
Detective Sergeant Paddy Gillece, from Force CID economic crime unit, said: “Just because a criminal has been sentenced, it does not mean it’s the end of our investigation.
“We will always seek to prevent criminals benefitting from ill-gotten gains and look to claw back their ‘dirty money’ through the courts.
“By taking away the profits we can break the cycle of criminal behaviour and those who don’t pay back the money can face extra time behind bars.
“The money we have recovered already should serve as a stark reminder that crime doesn’t pay.”
Wilkin had said he was threatened with a gun when he was unable to keep up with loan shark payments and turned to drug dealing as a last resort.
But his story was rejected by a judge who found the dad-of-two became a street dealer in order to fund a lavish lifestyle.
Wilkin, co-owner of Kingsbury Auto Repairs in Birmingham, had also been funding his lifestyle unbeknownst to his family who believed his cash came from his business.
But his secret trade was unravelled when he was pulled over for a minor traffic offence on June 4.
Police searched his vehicle believing his window tints to be illegal and spotting three mobile phones in his car.
They uncovered 28.2g of cocaine and 2.3g of crack concealed in a ‘man bag’ as well as over £2,000 in cash.
When his home at Erdington, Birmingham was searched a compressed blog of cocaine weighing 153g was found along with a 3.59g of the drug.