‘He is not exactly Brain of Britain’ - man kept £22,000 cocaine in McDonald’s bag in van

A man kept cocaine in a McDonald's bag in his van. File photo. Picture: Getty Images (Image: @Ian Dyball - All Rights Reserved)

Scalextric enthusiast John Woolsey claimed the self-seal plastic bags containing cocaine were being used to keep parts for his model car racing set.

At his trial at Reading crown court, Woolsey, 57, of Churchill Estate, Fakenham, said he agreed to take the McDonald's bag to an unknown location after he had met a man, who he could not name, in a pub, which he also could not name, in Essex on May 17, 2018.

Woolsey was found guilty of conspiracy to supply a controlled drug of Class A and will be sentenced on March 13.

Christopher Amis, prosecuting, said: "It is a cock and bull story. It is one that he has been driven to come up with because he has to explain how he came to be in possession of these drugs and that is the best that he can do."

Police had intercepted Woolsey after they had been tracking him, at a service station in Thetford, the jury was told, where the McDonald's bag was found in the back of his white transit van encasing the block of cocaine, which had been wrapped up eight times.

Defending Woolsey, Michael Clare said: "He is not exactly Brain of Britain. If you saw a piece of paper in his hand, it would not be a MENSA application."

Calling him a "dope" and a "mule", Mr Clare invited the jury to acquit Woolsey on the basis he had genuinely not realised he was moving drugs.

Mr Clare said: "He is not that bright and he will swallow that story that they were moving money.

"He is a bit dim. He has got a legitimate reason for going up and down the A11. He wanted £500 and if he was caught he could not be traced back to anyone. That is how a criminal enterprise really works."

The prosecutor added that another man, Matthew Boyle, had already admitted conspiracy to supply a controlled drug of Class A with Woolsey between May 8 and 31 in 2018.