THE NAME OF THE HEIR OF ONE OF BRITAIN’S LARGEST F
THE NAME OF THE HEIR OF ONE OF BRITAIN’S LARGEST FORTUNES WAS
FOUND IN THE BACK OF A DRUG DEALER’S ACCOUNTS BOOK NEXT TO A STRING
OF CALCULATIONS AMOUNTING TO THOUSANDS OF POUNDS, A COURT HEARD TODAY
(THURS).
THE MIS-SPELT NAME OF LORD JAMIE BLANDFORD, HEIR TO THE #60
MILLION BLENHEIM PALACE FORTUNE, WAS ALLEGEDLY WRITTEN IN THE BOOK
FOUND IN THE POCKET OF WEST INDIALAWRENCE ZEPHYR WHEN HE WAS
ARRESTED IN A SEEDY LONDON COCAINE DEN.
ON THE SAME PAGE AS HIS NAME – SPELT ‘BLUNFORD’ – WAS THE
PHRASE ‘IOU – #4,000’ AND THE WORD ‘STOCK’ OR ‘STASH’.
.
BLANDFORD, THE SON OF THE 11TH DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH, HAD BEEN
ARRESTED MINUTES EARLIER IN THE BASEMENT FLAT IN EDGWARE ROAD .
BUT MR DAVID BATE, COUNSEL FOR ZEPHYR, CLAIMED THE BOOK HAD
BEEN SUBSTITUTED BY POLICE FOR AN ADDRESS BOOK TAKEN FROM ZEPHYR
AFTER HIS ARREST.
.
HE SAID THAT ALTHOUGH THE DRUG DEALING CALCULATIONS WERE
CLEARLY OF ‘IMMENSE SIGNIFICANCE’ FOR POLICE OFFICERS ARRESTING AN
ALLEGED DRUGS SUPPLIER, THEY TOOK NO IMMEDIATE ACTION OVER IT.
CROSS-EXAMINING PC STEVEN KEATS HE SAID: ‘ON THE BACK PAGE OF
THE BOOK IN LARGE WRITING WAS THE WORD ”BLUNFORD”.
‘YOU HAD JUST COME FROM PREMISES WHERE LORD BLANDFORD HAD BEEN
ARRESTED AND LORD BLANDFORD WAS IN THE VERY STATION WHERE YOU WERE.
YOU AND NO-ONE ELSE NOTICED THAT WRITING?’
KEATS REPLIED THAT HE DID NOT LOOK AT THE BOOK CLOSELY.
‘I WAS
VERY BUSY’, HE SAID.
MR BATE THEN DESCRIBED TO THE JURY THE WRITING ON ANOTHER OF
THE BOOK’S PAGES.
‘AGAIN THERE ARE THE LETTERS ”BLUF” (CORR) AND THEN THE SAME
WORD ”BLUNFORD”.
RIGHT NEXT TO THAT WORD IS WRITTEN ”ZEPHYR”.
‘AND ON THAT VERY PAGE THERE IS A WHOLE SERIES OF
CALCULATIONS RUNNING INTO THOUSANDS.
THE WORD ”STOCK” OR ”STASH”
IS AT THE TOP.
THERE IS ALSO THE LETERS ”IOU – #4,000” AND AT THE
BOTTOM A BALANCE.
‘
MR BATE TOLD KEATS: ‘I SUGGEST YOU WOULD NEED TO LOOK AT THIS
BOOK FOR ALL OF THREE SECONDS TO REALISE IT WAS OF IMMENSE
SIGNIFICANCE IN THE ARREST OF A DRUG DEALER.
‘
DC KEATS REPLIED HE WAS BUSY AND THE BOOK WAS PUT INTO A
SEALED EXHIBITS BAG.
HE DENIED IT WAS A DIFFERENT BOOK TO ONE FOUND
ON ZEPHYR.
SAID MR BATES: ‘IT HAS BEEN KNOWN FOR WICKED PEOPLE TO TRY AND
DESTROY OR LOSE OR THROW AWAY ITEMS.
‘
KEATES REPLIED: ‘YES, THAT’S TRUE.
BUT ON THIS OCCASION ZEPHYR
DIDN’T.
‘
BLANDFORD, 30, OF BLENHEIM PALACE, OXFORDSHIRE, HAS ADMITTED
POSSESSION OF COCAINE AND WILL BE SENTENCED AT THE END OF THE TRIAL.
ZEPHYR, 53, OF ASHMORE ROAD, MAIDA VALE, DENIES FOUR CHARGES
OF POSSESSING COCAINE WITH INTENT TO SELL AND FOUR FIREARMS CHARGES.
THE TRIAL CONTINUES.
ENDS
CENTRAL NEWS, PRESS ROOM, CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT, OLD BAILEY, EC4
ADD BLANDFORD.
