A TEACHER caught with cocaine supposedly to share with friends on a stag trip must forfeit £2,245 as proceeds of crime.
The order was made by a judge at Durham Crown Court yesterday, three months after Ian Ashby was given a 51-week prison sentence, suspended for two years.
As part of the sentence, Ashby, 30, who no longer teaches, was given a six-month electronically tagged home curfew.
The former IT and business studies teacher at Stanley Technology School, in County Durham, admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply.
It followed the recovery of 29g of the drug from his Mercedes car, which had a false number plate, at Sniperley, near Durham City, in May last year.
Ashby said the drugs, worth an estimated £2,042, were bought to share among friends on a stag trip he was planning for a friend.
The court heard £170 was seized from Ashby at the time, while £1,100 was recovered in a search of his home, at Benfieldside Road, Shotley Bridge, near Consett. He said some of the money was given to him by members of the trip.
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