DETECTIVES investigating the death of shopkeeper Javaid Ali found around £2500 in cash during an extensive search of his Paisley store, a court was told.
Lee Anderson, 31, denies murdering Mr Ali at his shop the Sunshine Grocers in Green Road, Paisley, on June 15, last year.
At the High Court in Glasgow Detective Sergeant Andrew Gibson said he was part of a major investigation team probing Mr Ali's death.
The jury has heard Mr Ali was stabbed in the neck, which severed the carotid artery and caused massive blood loss and he went into cardiac arrest. Mr Ali suffered severe and permanent brain damage and died on June 29, 2012, after his life support machine was switched off.
Det Sgt Gibson told prosecutor John Scullion that the shop was forensically examined for five weeks and the search involved 20 police officers and 10 forensic experts. He said: "We found £664.50 in the floor behind the counter and £409.76 in the till."
The court heard some of the banknotes found near to Mr Ali's body were covered in blood.
Police also found 12 bags of herbal cannabis in Mr Ali's white van. Det Sgt Gibson was asked by solicitor advocate Bob Mitchell: "Mr Ali had drugs near to the shop and he had a large amount of cash on the premises," and he replied: "Yes."
Mr Mitchell then said: "Would you not agree that was a very dangerous thing to do," and Det Sgt Gibson said: "Yes... it is a risky business."
Mr Ali was working alone when he was stabbed and the CCTV in the shop was not working. The trial continues.
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