A DRUG dealer who hid more than £20,000 in his socks and laundered cash through a bank account in his daughter's name has been stripped of his assets.

Del Smith made £69,712 from dealing cannabis in Worcester but the court has only been able to confiscate less than half of that (£34,199).

The 29-year-old of Shakespeare Road, Dines Green, appeared in Worcester Crown Court on Wednesday for a Proceeds of Crime Application.

Tim Harrington, prosecuting, applied for a confiscation order in relation to the £34,199, referred to as Smith's 'realisable assets'.

He said: "This represents cash held by the police from three bank accounts."

Judge Nicolas Cartwright granted the confiscation order with the default sentence of imprisonment set at nine months.

If the cash is not paid this sentence can be imposed on top of the one Smith is already serving.

We reported last October how Del Smith admitted possession of cannabis (class B) and Diazepam (class C) with intent to supply and money laundering (possession of criminal money).

The offences placed him in breach of a suspended sentence order imposed in November 2015, also imposed for possession of cannabis with intent to supply.

This resulted in an eight month prison sentence suspended for 24 months.

However, by October 2016, less than a year, later Smith was dealing again.

Smith was found in possession of eight ounces of cannabis in four clear sandwich bags.

Smith’s fingerprints were found on three of the four bags. Smith was stopped again on January 5 last year and found with £1,665 in his pocket.

Smith told police at the time the cash was not criminal proceeds and the money in his bank account was legitimate, earned through painting and decorating, labouring and gambling.

Smith was arrested on March 2, 2017 and a search was carried out at his home.

£1,606 was found in a bag in his attic and £19,905 was found in four separate bundles hidden in socks under loft insulation.

Another address associated with the defendant, Shakespeare Road, was also searched where 1kg of skunk cannabis was found valued at between £3,500 and £10,000.

Police also found scales with cannabis residue and 45g of cannabis bush.

In total police recovered about 1.2kg of cannabis.

Michael Conry who prosecuted the case last October said a large number of payments had been made into an account in the name of Smith's six-year-old daughter. Mr Conry said there had been £17,000 in this account before he was stopped in January but £7,000 had been withdrawn.

Last October judge Robert Juckes QC sentenced Smith to three years in prison, half of which he can expect to serve in custody and half on licence.