£34k Wigan drug dealer to repay back £1

But because Dale Doran, 24, now has no assets, a court has ruled that he must repay just £1 as the result of his ill-gotten gains.

Doran, of Comet Road, Marsh Green, was arrested by police in March 2017 after being caught with a German-made revolver at a service station in Woodhouse Lane.

He insisted the weapon, which was stashed under the front seat of his car, had been acquired so he could go “rabbiting” with his grandfather.

Doran, who fled from the vehicle when confronted by police, later confessed that his grandmother would not have allowed the weapon in the house.

Investigators attempted to track him down at his grandparents’ home, immediately afterwards, but could only find “the remnants of a drugs farm”, Bolton Crown Court was told.

Doran’s mobile phone was seized and police found evidence he had been involved in dealing cocaine and cannabis, after analysing messages contained on the device.

He was already on police bail from the previous February, after his car collided with one of the force’s patrol cars in Pembroke Road and he drove off without stopping.

Judge Richard Gioserano jailed Doran for four years for the drugs and driving offences during a hearing last December.

He was also given a consecutive five-year term for the firearms matter and banned from driving for six-and-a-half years.

The judge dismissed prosecution claims, later dropped, that Doran had been intending to rob the service station, when caught holding the gun.

Appearing via a video link for a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing at Bolton before a different judge, Recorder of Bolton Timothy Clayson, prosecutors said it was clear the defendant had enjoyed a “criminal lifestyle” as a result of his drug dealing.

Police financial investigators estimated that, as the result of his drug dealing and smaller amounts of drugs found in his possession, the total benefit to Doran could be estimated at £34,402.

But because Doran had no realisable assets, Judge Clayson ruled that the dealer would only be required to pay a nominal £1 to the court, or serve 28 days in default.

Doran was warned though that on his eventual release, if he was later found to have any outstanding assets, the outstanding £34,020 could still be recovered from him by the authorities.