Umina Beach: UK brickie Bradley Michael Nash sentenced over $1M cash and two Rolex’s

A UK national, who was pinched with more than $1 million in cash and two Rolex watches, was motivated by a “perceived need, not greed”, a court has heard.

Just mind this would you? Nash never gave up who he was looking after the cash for. Picture: NSW Police

A brickie who was nabbed “running from the police” when heavily armed tactical officers stormed his Umina Beach home has been sentenced after pleading guilty to two counts of dealing with the proceeds of crime.

Appearing via video link Bradley Michael Nash, 39, faced Gosford District Court on Friday which heard his bricklaying company had gone into “dire” financial difficulty because of Covid and his business partner leaving.

Nash’s solicitor, leading Central Coast criminal lawyer Samar Singh-Panwar, said his client’s offending was “financially motivated” but based on a “perceived need, not greed” to continue paying the mortgage on his home and provide for his de facto and their child.

The court heard Nash was arrested looking “tired and sweaty” by officers attached to Task-force Erebus when they conducted a series of five simultaneous raids across the Central Coast including Woy Woy and Umina Beach. on May 18 last year.

An agreed set of facts states no one was home when police arrived at Nash’s address on Casuarina Close about 10.30am and found the front door open and a grey Ford Territory parked in the driveway.

Task Force Erebus officers conducted a series of raids across the Central Coast on May 18 last year including Nash’s Umina Beach home. Picture: NSW Police

Nash’s partner arrived home a short time later and told police it was not unusual for them to leave their door unlocked.

As police were searching another address at Carpenter St they noticed Nash who was “observed to be tired and sweating” as he was coming out of a gate of a nearby house in Glenn St.

Nash was one of several people arrested by officers attached to Task Force Erebus across the Central Coast and in Sydney. Source: NSW Police

A resident later told police they saw him through their kitchen window and asked what he was doing to which Nash, a UK national, replied “I’m running from the police”, the facts state.

Police searched a storage shed leased in his name on Woy Woy Rd, Woy Woy, and found among surfboards, camping equipment and other personal items a safe bolted to the floor.

Nash confirmed the safe contained a bag of money he was storing for someone else.

“He indicated the bag contained `thousands of dollars’ although was unsure how much,” the facts state.

“He also indicated to the officers that he knew that he shouldn’t be looking after other people’s things or money `because I don’t know where it came from’.”

Nash gave police the access code to the safe and police seized $526,850 cash in various bundles with the amounts written on the top note of each bundle in black marker.

Nash’s DNA was found on the outside of the bag, the zipper, an inner pocket and a black marker pen found at the bottom of the bag.

During a search of his home they found a further $336,500 in cash in the kitchen, of which $300,500 was found in a Woolworths shopping bag.

Nash’s partner, who was not charged with any offence and there is no suggestion she had any knowledge of the money, told police it was not hers.

“I’ve never seen anything like it before, no idea, f..king what the f..k, that’s what I think,” she told police.

Nash was captured on CCTV at another storage facility driving the same Ford Territory ute as the one parked in his driveway.

Nash appeared at Gosford District Court. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

On June 1 2022 police searched yet another storage unit on Ocean Beach Rd, at Woy Woy, leased in his name.

“Concealed inside a pink suitcase inside the unit police located $179,820 cash in Australian currency,” the facts state.

“The storage unit also contained various personal belongings such as a bicycle and outdoor furniture.

“Also found inside the storage unit was some handwritten notes. One of the notes referred to `money dops’ and identified different days of the week, apparently over a three-week period with different numerical figures next to them. Some of the figures had `K’ after them (eg 16K). At the bottom right hand side of the note is written $360,920 owed”.

The total amount of cash found was $1,043,200 while officers also found a Rolex Submariner gentlemen’s watch and a Rolex GMT-Masters II watch valued between $85,000 and $95,000 each.

The court heard Nash had spent 11 months and 25 days in custody since his arrest and had separated from his partner who had returned to the UK with their child.

Judge Justin Smith said Nash never gave up the identities of the people he was minding the cash for and that his participation — albeit at a “low level” — formed the “backbone” for criminal groups to conduct their nefarious trade.

However Judge Smith concurred that Nash was motivated “to address the dire financial straits” he was in rather than funding a “lavish lifestyle”.

He sentenced him to an intensive corrections order for 11 months with 110 hours of community service.