THREE holdalls containing wads of banknotes were found by customs officers when they searched a lorry driven by a Bolton man, a court was told.

Steven Harbury, aged 45, of Marld Crescent, told customs officers who asked him if the cash was his: "No, I wish it was."

Harbury appeared at Canterbury Crown Court charged with two offences of money laundering on September 9, 2002, at Dover's Eastern Docks.

He denied attempting to remove £874,700 plus 16,125 Euros from lawful jurisdiction knowing, or suspecting it was the proceeds of drug trafficking, on the trip to Spain.

The second charge, which he also denied, was the same except that it stated that the banknotes were the product of someone else's criminal conduct.

Karl Sandy, a Customs Officer, told the court that he stopped Harbury's blue Renault Magnum lorry in a routine check when it arrived at Dover.

Harbury told him that he was taking a load of shoes and other items to Alicanti in Spain after which he would be taking a holiday before returning to England.

He said that he had picked up the trailer in Rossendale and the load of shoes in Northampton.

Mr Harbury, a self-employed lorry driver for 18 months, allowed Mr Sandy to examine his load and undid the curtain side of the trailer.

There were pallets in the lorry, Mr Sandy told the court, but in the middle were eight piles of what looked like either plywood or hardboard.

"It was unusual wood. It looked quite cheap wood to us. I looked at the paperwork to see if they were there and they were not there," said Mr Sandy.

When the piles were examined, it was found that four of them were hollowed out. In the fourth, said Mr Sandy, he found three holdalls.

"I asked him what they were and he said that he did not know."

Mr Sandy said that he unzipped one of the bags and found it was filled with wads of £20 and £10 banknotes.

Proceeding

THREE holdalls containing wads of banknotes were found by customs officers when they searched a lorry driven by a Bolton man, a court was told.

Steven Harbury, aged 45, of Marld Crescent, told customs officers who asked him if the cash was his: "No, I wish it was."

Harbury appeared at Canterbury Crown Court charged with two offences of money laundering on September 9, 2002, at Dover's Eastern Docks.

He denied attempting to remove £874,700 plus 16,125 in Euros from lawful jurisdiction knowing, or suspecting it was the proceeds of drug trafficking, on the trip to Spain.

The second charge, which he also denied, was the same except that it stated that the banknotes were the product of someone else's criminal conduct.

Karl Sandy, a Customs Officer, told the court that he stopped Harbury's blue Renault Magnum lorry in a routine check when it arrived at Dover.

Harbury told him that he was taking a load of shoes and other items to Alicanti in Spain after which he would be taking a holiday before returning to England.

He said that he had picked up the trailer in Rossendale and the load of shoes in Northampton.

Mr Harbury, a self-employed lorry driver for 18 months, allowed Mr Sandy to examine his load and undid the curtain side of the trailer.

There were pallets in the lorry, Mr Sandy told the court, but in the middle were eight piles of what looked like either plywood or hardboard.

"It was unusual wood. It looked quite cheap wood to us. I looked at the paperwork to see if they were there and they were not there," said Mr Sandy.

When the piles were examined, it was found that four of them were hollowed out. In the fourth, said Mr Sandy, he found three holdalls.