‘Because I was charged with overseeing the construction of the fake Ferrari I brought into Newhaven,’ he replied.

‘On whose instructions were you doing this?’

Starr pointed at the dock. ‘On his, my boss’s.’

Cork paused again to let this sink in. ‘So, just to be clear, the defendant instructed you to oversee the construction, in Düsseldorf, Germany, of a fake Ferrari?’

‘Yes.’

‘For what purpose? Was it to dupe a potential buyer?’

‘No, it was to bring in drugs to England concealed in the vehicle. In the belief that it wouldn’t be questioned by Customs.’

‘What led to such a belief?’

‘We’d got away with it before.’

‘Can you explain what you mean by that?’

Starr nodded. ‘To begin with we restored genuine cars and constructed replicas which we sold on. It was a good way of money laundering. Five years ago we moved into drug importation ourselves, and since that time we have packed those replica imports with drugs from our workshop in Germany.’

‘Always on the instruction of the defendant?’

‘Correct.’

‘And what did you do with these cars once they arrived at your premises?’

‘I removed the drugs, then arranged the sales of the vehicles.’

‘You had accomplices?’

‘I worked alone. None of the mechanics were aware of what I was actually doing.’

‘We won’t delve into the other employees of LH Classics for now. What do you estimate was the street value of the average shipment of Class-A drugs that came into this country concealed in these fake cars?’

Starr shook his head. ‘Hard to say. I would estimate around three million pounds for the first one and then between five and six million for all the others, including the Ferrari.’

‘Can you confirm how many times a year you would have brought these shipments in?’

Starr shrugged. ‘As I said, we started five years ago. The one I got caught with was the fifth time we’d done it.’

Cork feigned astonishment. ‘Five times – and four with approximately five million pounds of drugs each time? Over twenty million pounds’ worth of Class-A drugs in five years? Quite a sum, isn’t it?’

‘Yes, if you put it like that.’

‘Is there some other way I should put it?’

Starr blushed, and said nothing.

‘Mr Starr, what I would like to establish is the true nature of your work for the defendant. Was it to sell cars or was there some other – perhaps nefarious – work that you carried out?’

‘I suppose you could say I was his courier and general fixer.’

‘Courier and general fixer?’