Court hears alleged cocaine dealer had £29k stored at home.

By Cristiana Theodoli, @_cric_

The trial of a man accused of dealing cocaine heard cops found £29k in notes stored in a cash box while searching his home.

Self-employed plumber Ryan Daly, 28, is in the dock accused of being concerned in the supply of the class A drug from his and his parents' home in Wallace Gate, Bishopbriggs.

The jury at Glasgow Sheriff Court heard from police constable Graham Scott of Strathclyde Police who took part in the house's search on October 7, 2010.

As the constable was giving evidence the jury was shown the footage he took of the search, including the moment the officers found the cash box.

The officer said: “The fist question asked to him was 'who does the cash belong to' to which he replied 'me and my mom'. He was then asked 'where's it from?' to which he replied 'it's from rent, from working and my mother's business'.

“He said 'there was £29.000 there last time I counted'. He was asked what he was intending to do with the money to which he replied 'I was kinda saving it up to move into a house'.”

Constable Scott said in his experience large amounts of cash are usually indicative of a person's involvement in the drug trade.

The Jury also heard that as well a small set of scales and a number of pieces of papers with lists of names and digits, which the officer said are commonly known as 'tick lists', they also found a small bag of cocaine.

Yet the court later heard from Ryan's father, taxi driver John Daly, 54, who said part of the money was his and his wife's, Marie.

He said they had been planning an extension to the house and as they both get paid in cash they had just been saving the money up at home to pay for it.

After being asked by Defence Counsel Murray Macara Mr Daly said: “The work didn't take place, my money was taken away. It was a DIY project with my sons, it would be cheaper because we have got the trades in the family, my wife's brother's a builder, my son's a plumber and my other son, Kyle, is an electrician.”

He added that about £15.000 was his and his wife's and Ryan had been saving the rest up.

He said: “Marie was in charge of it, I gave Marie £500 per week and she uses it, it was kept in a box. Ryan put his money in there to keep them in one place. We know what we had so anything over that was Ryan's.”

Daly was originally also accused of being in possession of an offensive weapon in a public place on the same date in October 2010 after an extendable baton was found in his work van.

Fiscal Depute Bradley though dropped the charge and told the jury they would no longer seek a conviction for that allegation due to a change in the law between the date back in October and now.

The trial, before Sheriff Kenneth Mitchell, continues.

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