Crow is still on remand
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• A Bradford-based owner-driver has been held on remand in a French jail for three months on suspicion of smuggling cannabis.
Martin Crow, 31, was arrested in February after returning from a delivery to Spain. He suffered a puncture and a fire which spread throughout the trailer. He called for help from firefighters and police who discovered a large amount of cannabis hidden between pallets. He is now in a prison in the town of Sainte-Genevieve Des Bois on the outskirts of Paris.
Stephen Jackobi, director of UK legal pressure group Fair Trials Abroad, says: "Our main concern is to collect evidence on the case from the UK and then pass it on to the French authorities and get Crow out on bail."
Crow maintains he is innocent and Jakobi says that only a "lunatic" would have stayed with his vehicle in such a situation if he knew that the police were on their way.
"We believe that the lack of police and magistrate knowledge in this part of France has contributed to the length of time Crow has been on remand," says Jackobi. Crow's wife recently visited him in prison for the first time. It is believed that during her visit she was informed that new evidence had been found pointing to someone else being responsible for the drugs.