Drugs case dropped against Burnley man, 24
9:31am Wednesday 15th August 2012 in News
A DRUGS charge against a Burnley man accused of being part of a worldwide delivey scam has been dropped.
Scott Grindley, 24, of Hollingreave Road, had been accused of transporting the cocaine-cutting agent benzocaine from addresses in Burnley to dealers in the Middleton area of Manchester.
But Grindley denied any knowledge of the operation and pleaded not guilty to an offence of assisting in the supply of a class A drug.
Partway through a Preston Crown Court trial, prosecutor Robert Golinski offered no evidence against Grindley, who was released from the dock.
Still on trial is Mandy Hopkins, 23, of Dall Street, Burnley, charged with the same offence. She is said to have taken delivery of large blue barrels of benzocaine from China.
She is joined in the dock by Clifford Hall, 31, of Whaddon Way, and Stephen Baylis, 31, of Kingston Avenue, both Milton Keynes, who have pleaded not guilty to the same charge.
Hall has also denied possession with intent to supply diazepam and another drug, methylethylcathinone, which were alleged to have been discovered at his home by police.
Jurors have been told that 600kg of benzocaine was dispatched to homes in Burnley and Derbyshire which were masquerading as chemical companies.
Another defendant, Christopher Pounder, 26, of Parkinson Street, Burnley, admitted the same charge before the trial and is awaiting sentence.
