A Medway man has been forced to give up more than £30,000 cash which was seized by police during a search of his home.

Brian Sanders, 43, was arrested following the raid at his home in Brambletree Crescent, Borstal, in November 2016, during which cannabis was also discovered.

He subsequently pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis and was given a 12-month conditional discharge for the offence at Medway Magistrates’ Court.

However, Sanders could not provide a reasonable account for the £32,790 found in a bedroom at his home.

The find prompted financial investigators from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate to make an application under the Proceeds of Crime Act, to the courts.

The forfeiture order was approved by Medway magistrates at a hearing on Friday, November 3.

DI Annie Clayton said: “The work of officers does not stop following the conclusion of a criminal case and we were confident the money was not obtained through legitimate means.

“We will always try to recoup the proceeds of any criminal activity and ensure no one is allowed to benefit from crime, and the Proceeds of Crime Act is a very helpful piece of legislation for that purpose.

“In this case, Sanders did not have a good explanation for the large amount of cash hidden away in his home and will now never see it again.”

Sanders, who is also a Medway boxer, featured on KentOnline in June 2014, after thieves raided his cafe in Strood and took thousands of pounds of stock and cash, also stole a charity jar full of money collected for a little girl.

Burglars struck at the Top Munch cafe in Station Road, Strood, during the early hours of Tuesday morning June 17 and stole about £5,000 plus about £180 for the charity.

The cafe, which has been run by Sanders for the past five years, was collecting donations to send a little girl called Winnie Martin on a trip to Disneyland in Florida.

The burglars got into the cafe through a window.

CCTV footage showed a man entering Sanders’ other business above the cafe, a tanning shop, and letting his accomplice in through a fire exit.

They stole stock, about £2,000 of takings and about £3,000 from Mr Sanders’ boxing ticket sales, much of which he said was going to donate to Cancer Research UK as his dad was suffering from the disease.

The thieves also smashed up a coffee machine and a sunbed in the tanning shop above.

At the time, Sanders said: “This is my livelihood. I employ three girls, they are like my family it’s their livelihood too.”