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Cocaine worth more than £200k found after raid on one of UK’s most prestigious private schools

Police officers seized cocaine from staff accommodation at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School: Google Street View
Police officers seized cocaine from staff accommodation at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School: Google Street View

A major haul of cocaine worth more than £200,000 has been discovered after a police raid on one of the UK’s most prestigious private schools.

Police officers seized 1.5kg of the class A drug from staff accommodation at Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School in Elstree, Hertfordshire.

Justin Terry, caretaker of the £21,000-a-year school, has been charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine and amphetamine after the raid on a building on the school’s grounds on 31 October.

It was part of a police operation and investigation into drug supply networks in Hertfordshire.

Martin Walsh, 53, was also arrested in Liverpool in connection with the operation after 2kg of cocaine and £37,000 in cash were found by police.

Mr Walsh, from Watford, has been charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine and amphetamine, possession of cocaine with intent to supply, and possession of criminal property.

Both men have been remanded in police custody.

Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School, whose alumni include actors and comedians Sacha Baron Cohen and Matt Lucas, was named The Sunday Times Independent School of the Year in 2017.

A spokesperson for Hertfordshire Police confirmed that they had “executed a warrant at a building within the grounds of Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School in Elstree”.

“The school is fully supportive of the police investigation and there is no threat to the wider school community,” the spokesperson added.

Mr Terry, 45, has been suspended from his caretaker role at the school amid the investigation.

A statement from the school said: “We are aware that a member of our non-teaching staff has been arrested and charged by Hertfordshire Police on drugs-related offences.

“The police have confirmed that the alleged offences do not relate in any way to other members of the school community.”

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