Cops raiding TOWIE star Cara Kilbey’s house found stash of Louis Vuitton bags – but dealer suspect lover Daniel Harris claims they were freebies and he ‘didn’t buy them with drug money’
THE BOYFRIEND of ex-TOWIE star Cara Kilbey's has insisted luxury goods found in the couple's flat were freebies and not bought with the money he made dealing cocaine.
Daniel Harris, 33, is accused of being a ringleader in a multi-million pound cocaine dealing gang between 2012 and 2016.
He allegedly organised moped dealers posing as black cab drivers learning "The Knowledge".
The Old Bailey heard today that when police searched the home he shares with Ms Kilbey and their daughter Penelope Blu in Theydon Bois, Essex, officers found £116,000 in cash in an Asda shopping bag inside a black holdall in the child's bedroom.
He drove a Porsche, but he said the car belonged to Ms Kilbey.
In the flat there were Louis Vuitton bags, Brunella Cochinelli shoes and a Hermés jacket.
Harris said the luxury goods found in their flat were mostly sent by companies hoping she would promote them to her Instagram followers.
The court was shown a video of the luxury items found in their flat and Harris said: "Pretty much everything you see in that photo was either bought by Cara's mum or by companies that wanted her to promote them on Instagram.
'The furniture you can see, the wardrobe and the baby's cot, that cost between £3,000 and £4,000 and that was a gift from a company hoping she would promote it on Instagram or through a tweet.'
Miss Kilbey, who appeared on the first four seasons of The Only Way is Essex, has 458,000 followers on Twitter and 344,000 Instagram followers.
The jury were also shown pictures of Ms Kilbey's collection of Louis Vuitton handbags.
When asked if he had bought them for her, he said: "No. These were Cara's hold hand bags she had accumulated over the last 10 years.
"She had got them from her mum's house where they were in the loft or the garage and she was going to sell them."
He said Miss Kilbey was also planning on selling a stack of designer sunglasses that were found at the address, and that they too had been gifts from her parents or from companies looking for publicity.
Four pairs of Brunella Cochinelli shoes belonging to Harris - which cost up to £800 per pair - were also found.
Harris denied they had been paid for with drug money, saying: "I bought one pair, Cara bought me two pairs and my mum bought me one pair."
He added that all of his designer jackets, including one by Hermés and one by Moncler, had been bought while he was working as a trader in the city.
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Harris repeatedly denied that any of his and Miss Kilbey's lifestyle was funded by cash from drug dealing.
The reality show star is the daughter of a successful businessman and independently wealthy.
Harris had no job and only a vague ambition to open a Crossfit gym.
Bank records show that when he was arrested in March 2016 he had only £75 in his account, the court heard.
During a raid on his address, police found Harris had been using an encrypted and had made computer searches for '250 kilos of drugs' and 'counter surveillance course in UK.' Raids on other gang members led to the seizure of high-purity cocaine with a street value of nearly £1m as well as large quantities of cutting agents and cash, jurors heard.
The cocaine was marked with the labels 'Fox' and 'Cocoa' while the self sealed bags used by the gang were emblazoned with the Union Jack flag, the court heard.
Harris, of Coopers Court, Theydon Bois, Essex, denies two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and one of possessing criminal property.
The trial continues.
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