Gang boss is told to pay back £280,000
ACRIME gang leader and his wife, convicted for their part in a multi-million pound stolen goods crime network, must pay back £280,000 or face further time behind bars.
Tommy ‘ Hot Dog’ Smith and his wife Mary Smith, from Great Harwood, were jailed in August 2019 for their role in the thefts of plant and machinery from across the UK.
This included Carlisle, Greater Manchester, Leeds, and Bradford.
Tommy, 42, received sixand-a-half years behind bars for his part in the conspiracy between 2016 and 2018.
Wife Mary got 15 months after admitting conspiracy to handle stolen goods and money laundering.
At the time, prosecutors said the case primarily concerned stolen cars and machinery that went through the hands of Tommy and ‘to a lesser degree’ his wife Mary, their associates and employees.
As part of the operation police searched industrial units connected to the defendants in St Lawrence Mill, Mill Street, Great Harwood. A number of items found inside were later linked to other thefts.
Tommy Smith’s crime group was also responsible for stealing £125,000 worth of aluminium trakway from Cut Lane in Rishton.
Now, the husband and wife crime duo must pay back £280,000 after the conclusion of a Proceeds Of Crime Act (POCA) hearing brought forward by Lancashire Constabulary.
This is to give the victims of their crimes some form of financial compensation for the thefts against them.
The pair were back at Preston Crown Court on Monday (December 7) where Judge Simon Newell ordered Tommy, formerly of Meadow Street, to re-pay £55,000 within three months or face a further 18 months in custody.
Mary, of Meadow Street, Great Harwood, was ordered to pay back £225,000 within three months or face a 30-month custodial sentence. It was discovered that the couple each benefited from their criminality to the tune of £1million.
Meanwhile, Scott Paton, 32, of Springfield Road, Great Harwood, who previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handle stolen goods and money laundering, has been ordered to pay back £6,200 - the total of amounts of assets that could be attributed to him. He benefited through his criminality to the tune of £369,893.
DS Andrew Osbaldeston, of the East Targeted Crime Unit, said: “This POCA hearing brings to a conclusion a fouryear investigation and I would like to thank everybody involved in this process.
“Through their criminal activity, Tommy and Mary Smith were profiting from the hard work of their victims to live a luxury lifestyle. Although we have not been able to recover the full benefit amount from them at this stage, this order is indefinite so we have the ability to seize future assets off them until the full debt is paid.
“It is important to point out that this money will be used to re-pay the victims, who through no fault of their own, were left out of pocket because of the greed of all those involved in the conspiracy.
“I hope this case and its outcome shows the people of Lancashire, and in particular Great Harwood, that we will pro-actively pursue those who seek to commit crime in the county and bring them to justice - no matter how long it takes.”
Both Tommy and Mary Smith were given 10-year Directors Disqualification Orders in 2019.
Anyone with information about criminality in their area can call 101 or report it online at doitonline.lancashire. police.uk.