Jailed drugs plotter loses appeal
ADRUGS plotter from Southport has failed in a bid to clear his name – despite insisting he is an innocent scrap metal dealer.
Lee Andrew Burgess, 45, was linked by fingerprint evidence to £50,000 worth of cocaine, amphetamine and cannabis.
Prosecutors said that he was also implicated by a “dealer list” found at his home, along with £24,000 in cash.
Burgess, of Scarisbrick New Road, Southport, was jailed for 12 years in November 2014.
He was found guilty of conspiracy to supply the three drugs at Liverpool Crown Court.
But he challenged his convictions at London’s Appeal Court on Friday, June 29, claiming to be the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
Burgess had argued during his trial that the “dealers list” was in fact a check list of scrap metal that he was buying and selling.
The money also came from his “legitimate business interests,” he insisted.
On appeal, Burgess claimed fresh evidence, in the form of a large number of invoices, proved that he was legally dealing scrap.
But Lord Justice Holroyde said: “The prosecution case was not that there were no legitimate business interests but that, in addition to them, he was dealing drugs.
“This is a belated attempt to elevate an unimportant aspect of the case to a status it does not merit.”
The appeal judge concluded: “There is nothing which casts any doubt on the safety of the convictions and this application is refused.”