Drug dealer turns up at court in flash new car - judge orders it to be confiscated to pay off debts

A drug dealer has had his prized BMW taken from him as a payment towards an outstanding Confiscation Order.

Paul Michael Fisher, 27, was originally sentenced to four years in prison in May 2015 after pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of class A drugs and money laundering.

In December 2015 there was a Proceeds of Crime Act Confiscation hearing where the judge awarded a Confiscation Order of £65,000. Funds that were in bank accounts held by Fisher were released by him to the court in part settlement of the order, leaving an outstanding balance of approximately £16,000.

In August 2017, he was released from prison and a couple of weeks later attended North Somerset Magistrates Court in relation to the outstanding balance. He arrived at court in his newly purchased BMW 120D Sport Coupe - which he'd paid £8,000 for.

This was noted by the court and after questioning Fisher, the Court issued a warrant for it to be seized and for Fisher to be returned immediately to prison to serve his default sentence of 86 days.

The car was seized as an asset belonging to Fisher and was removed by bailiffs; it will be submitted to auction later this month.

A Wiltshire Police spokesman said: "The moral of this tale is that if a Confiscation Order is awarded against you, it will not go away until settled in full.
"If you find yourself to be asset rich, those assets can be seized by the court and used in payment towards settlement of the order - as we have seen in this case."