£1m hidden in bedroom seized after shock death

A court has ordered the seizure of more than £1 million in cash found hidden at the home of a Shropshire man by police investigating a sudden death.

The money was discovered in a bedroom during a search of 56-year-old Phillip Hartill’s home in Highley, near Bridgnorth, in December 2010.

Details of the seizure, the biggest of its kind in the West Midlands, were released for the first time today after a court agreed with police that the money was the profits of raids on lorry drivers.

It was found as police investigated the death of Polish lorry driver Bogdan Bartczak. He was found dead in Dudley in November 2010 after his £250,000 load of televisions was stolen.

It is believed he had suffered a heart attack. Nine men were convicted for offences linked to the robbery in January this year.

During the inquiry officers searched the address in Highley and the cash was seized from a bedroom.

A police spokesman said the court accepted the police claim that the money should be considered to be the proceeds of haulage theft.

The forfeiture followed an application by the West Midlands Police Economic Crime Unit, despite initial criminal proceedings being dropped against Mr Hartill.

He was held on suspicion of money laundering and handling stolen goods but following extensive police enquiries he was released and no criminal charges were brought against him.