A 24-YEAR-OLD man has walked free from court after he was found guilty of money laundering.

Thomas Little, of Osler Road in Headington, Oxford, was given a 12-month suspended sentence and 250 hours' community service when he appeared at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday.

Two men from Kent, who were caught as part of the same investigation by HM Revenue and Customs, were sent to jail for drug and money laundering offences.

Simon Fisher, 39, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment after he was found guilty of conspiracy to import cannabis.

Paul Phipps, 27, received five years in jail for conspiracy to import cannabis and one year each for three charges of money laundering, all to run consecutively.

All three men had been linked to arrangements for a light aircraft to fly low over Lyminge Forest, in Kent, and check the feasibility of dropping drugs for future collection.

The same aircraft was intercepted in Belgium and the pilot was arrested with approximately 60 kilograms of cannabis. He was also successfully prosecuted.

Large sums of cash - about £815,000 - was discovered at addresses connected to Phipps and Little.

A spokesman for HM Revenue and Customs said: "HMRC is working at the forefront of the fight to stop drugs entering the UK and to reduce the associated harm to our communities.

"The seizure of cash by HMRC officers and the subsequent investigation and conviction of these individuals has kept a substantial amount of drugs off the streets".