A TRUSTED drugs courier was caught with seven kilograms of cocaine and £80,000 in his car when police pulled him up on the A1(M) in County Durham, a court was told.

John Neill, who appeared to have been in the midst of a drugs run from Merseyside to the North-East, was jailed for a total of seven years at Durham Crown Court.

Neill, 33, was driving south when he was pulled over at Bowburn, near Durham, on November 5 last year.

Christine Egerton, prosecuting, said seven one kilogram blocks of high-purity cocaine were recovered from a black holdall in a hidden boot compartment of his Volvo S60.

The blocks were sealed with clear tape, but one was partly opened.

Miss Egerton told the court: “The Crown would say the partly opened block was to give prospective buyers a ‘taster’, to check the purity prior to purchase.”

The recovered cocaine was said to be high purity for wholesale distribution, but could be adulterated to produce 19kg of lesser purity cocaine with a potential bulk value of £855,000, although if further reduced it could yield £950,000 in street sale terms.

She said, based on an estimated purchase price of £315,000, it could have brought a potential profit of £635,000.

Miss Egerton said the hold-all also contained 16 bundles of bank notes, all in plastic bands, amounting to exactly £80,000.

A further £200, thought to be a payment or to cover petrol costs and other expenditure, was also found on Neill.

He gave no reply to police questioning, but the court heard he would not contest any forfeiture application for the recovered cash.

She told the court a satellite navigation system in the car indicated it originated in Liverpool and was in the North-East 13 times from June 6 to November 5.

Neill, of Huyton, Liverpool, admitted possessing the class A drug with intent to supply, on the basis he was acting as, “a courier”.

But, Judge Christopher Prince said, given what police found in the car: “That would indicate he was acting as a participant with a responsibility, which appears to be more than just a ‘courier’.”

Liam O’Brien, mitigating, said he was more of a ‘prominent’ or ‘trusted’ courier trying to help make ends meet for his family.

But Judge Prince said he would have helped his family more by not getting involved in such criminal activity.

Jailing him for six years and eight months, with four months added from a previous suspended sentence, the judge ordered destruction of the drugs and confiscation of the recovered £80,200 and Neill’s car.