Cash found at drug den from car boot sales - court

A large police cordon was in place in Grimethorpe during searches in May 2024

A man accused of protecting his drug enterprise with trip wires and explosives "Home Alone-style" has said large sums of cash found were from successful car boot sales and inheritance.

Three properties in Grimethorpe linked to Ian Claughton, 60, were found "heavily fortified" with fishing wire, adapted crow-scarers and weapons, Doncaster Crown Court has heard.

Mr Claughton told the jury a stun gun found in his property had been left by a previous tenant while a flamethrower, made from an adapted fire extinguisher, had been put together to "wow" people on Bonfire Night.

Mr Claughton and his ex-wife Lesley, 59, are accused of several drugs and firearms offences.

Mr Claughton has pleaded guilty to bringing a realistic imitation firearm into Great Britain, being concerned in production of a controlled drug of Class B, namely cannabis, and possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of Class B, namely amphetamine and cannabis.

He denies possession of prohibited firearms (three counts), possession of criminal property and possession of explosive substances.

Lesley Claughton denies bringing a realistic imitation firearm into Great Britain, possessing Class B drugs with intent, possessing criminal property and being concerned in production of Class B drugs.

'Flamethrower not a weapon'

The duo's homes in Brierley Road were raided in May 2024 following a tip-off from Border Force officers.

Inside the properties, officers found a large quantity of dried cannabis, plants and growing equipment as well as weapons including a stun gun hidden behind a fridge-freezer, an air-powered gun and a home-made flamethrower.

Prosecutor Helen Chapman alleged Mr Claughton had obtained the weapons to protect his drugs from intruders.

In his closing speech on Wednesday, George Hazel-Owram, for Mr Claughton, said it was "perfectly possible" that the stun gun had been hidden by a former tenant and was there "unbeknown to Ian Claughton".

"If there was an intruder, he would hardly want to move a fridge to defend himself," Mr Hazel-Owram said.

Ms Chapman told the court how the properties had been fitted with warning signs, telling intruders to "prepare and get themselves measured up for their own coffin".

She said the signs also referenced the presence of a flamethrower, a reference Mr Hazel-Owram dismissed by saying they also referenced a non-existent gate with 50,000 volts running through it.

Mr Hazel-Owram argued that the flamethrower was "not a weapon" and had been used for Bonfire Night.

"Perhaps not very safe, perhaps not something you might do but perhaps something that will make people go 'wow'," Mr Hazel-Owram told jurors.

Two paintball guns found in the property were also "not weapons", he said, and there had been no evidence Mr Claughton had ever used them against a person.

Mr Hazel-Owram said minor explosives had been installed after Mr Claughton suffered break-ins from travellers, some time before he started growing cannabis.

At a third property, occupied by Lesley Claughton, police found amphetamine stored in a Maltesers chocolate box in the fridge as well as 1.5kg of the drug in "little snack bags" in the bread bin.

Police also found a crossbow, crossbow bolts, a knife and "an enormous amount of cash", including £27,000 hidden in a sofa.

Both deny having obtained any of the cash found inside the three properties through illegal dealings.

They say it had come from car boot sales, inheritance, selling tools and from an old business that had wound up.

Ms Claughton denies knowledge of the drugs found in her kitchen and the weapons found next to her bed.

The mother of three, who the court heard was in receipt of Universal Credit, said the money stitched into the sofa belonged to her husband.

The trial continues.

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