Convicted man from East Yorkshire ordered to pay back £2 million
He was sentenced to 12-years in prison for the conspiracy of supplying Class A drugs
An East Yorkshire man who was sentenced to 12-years in prison for the conspiracy of supplying Class A drugs between April and August 2020, has been ordered to pay back nearly £2 million pounds under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Richard Batty, 39, from Church Lane, Withernwick, was arrested in August 2020 for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy. The investigation was part of the National Crime Agency’s “Operation Venetic”, a major international operation targeting organised crime groups that used the encrypted messaging service ‘EncroChat’ to conduct illegal business.
Between April and August 2020, Batty was involved in conversations about receiving shipments of drugs, with one delivery taking place in June 2020. On that occasion, 41 kilograms of cocaine, worth around £4.1 million pounds, were brought into the force area.
Batty was sent images of five 1kg blocks of cocaine, branded with the designer labels ‘Prada’ and ‘GVY,’ and a price offered of £37,500. These were later seized during an interception on the M62. During a search of Batty’s address, a 10-tonne hydraulic press, used for pressing cocaine, was seized.
Batty appeared at Hull Crown Court on Friday 30 June 2023, where he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A controlled drugs and was sentenced to 12-years in prison. Another man was also charged in connection with the investigation and was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.
Officers from our Asset Recovery Team then began seeking a confiscation order against Mr Batty’s property, which was believed to have been built using the proceeds of his criminal activities.
Last week, Thursday 28 November, a confiscation hearing was held at Hull Crown Court which identified that Mr Batty had netted around £1.9 million pounds from his criminal activity. Mr Batty is now required to pay back approximately £375,000 through assets currently owned by him. This includes a house, cars, money in bank accounts and high value items. The outstanding amount of money from the £1.9 million pounds will remain a lifetime time debt for Mr Batty.
Detective Inspector Jim Clarke from our Serious Organised Crime Unit said, “My team welcome this finding against Batty which demonstrates that a life of crime doesn’t pay.
“Not only do we seek to prosecute those who are involved in serious organised crime within our communities, we will go on to relentlessly pursue all profits made through criminality to ensure assets and illicit finance are recovered.”