NSW Police seized the 1988 Jaguar and the Toyota Supra after a drug bust in August 2010. Charges related to the case are still before the courts. Police put the cars in an official storage facility at Lidcombe that cost $2000.

But the owner wanted to use the Jaguar to teach his 16-year-old daughter to drive, and went to court to challenge the freeze on his asset. Last July, Downing Centre Local Court heard the car owner's barrister Greg Jones and magistrate Lee Gilmour offer an out for police. But the police refused and demanded the owner pay the $2000 storage bill.

Court documents show Mr Jones offered to split the costs and end the matter. Ms Gilmour made the same offer. ''You want to get rid of them,'' she said of the vehicles. ''They want them back.''

She then warned police: ''I'm trying to save costs for everybody. Somewhere down the track somebody might have to pay a whole lot of costs that they may not want to. So stopping that now, if ultimately the prosecution forgo $2000 now, it might save them $20,000 in a few months' time.''

But police refused to heed her advice. ''We don't want to pay a cent,'' prosecutor Sergeant Allan Treadwell said, seeking full payment. The case was adjourned until August 25 last year, when Sergeant Treadwell again refused the defence's offer to split the bill.