1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156 
Appeal would delay release
Page 9
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• The family of a Scottish truck driver jailed in France for drug lrafficking has given up its appeal against his six-year prison sentence.
Last year Jeffrey Logan, from North Ballachulish, Lochaber, was stopped at Coquelles, near Calais; police found r7kg of cocaine hidden in is truck with a street value of about 18m.
The family appealed against his sentence, and has been pressing the Foreign Office, British government and local MPs and MSPs for action. But the appeal has now been dropped because the slow pace of the French judicial system means Logan could be eligi
ble for conditional release before any appeal was even halfway through.
Logan's wife Lsabel says continuing the appeal would mean he would not be granted conditional release, and would also have to remain in Douai prison, near Lille, where she says conditions are "unbelievable".
She has already complained to the Foreign Office about conditions in the jail, saying her husband has to contend with rats, filth, inadequate meals, poor heating, dirty clothes and pools of urine in the exercise yard (CM 13-19 June). Since he was moved to Douai Logan has lost seven stone, she adds: "We have to weigh up everything. Do
we drop the appeal and possibly get him home, or perhaps not get him home at all? He was very unwell in Douai last winter, and now he's like a skeleton."
Mrs Logan says that now the appeal has been withdrawn her husband is entitled to be moved to another jail. However, she says she has little hope this will happen before winter as "nothing happens fast" in the French penal system.
The family has also reiterated its disgust that the Foreign Office has been unable to help, while German prisoners in the same jail have had support from their government. "The Foreign Office has been no help at all,' she says.