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You're free to go as sow as you've paid this £2.7m fine...
Page 12
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A British truck driver finally cleared of drug smuggling by the French courts has now been fined for another offence. David Harris reports.
THE FRENCH HIGH Court has finally cleared Leeds-based driver Paul Watson of all charges of smuggling a tonne of cannabis in the back of his truck.
However, despite the judicial reprieve he has still been fined €3.91m (i2.7m) for having incorrect documentation. Watson, who was locked up in a French jail for 10 months after the drugs were discovered in his trailer, has always protested his innocence.
He had no idea that the drugs were in his vehicle.
The fine does not surprise Stephen Jakobi, director of the organisation Fair Trials Abroad, which has fought for justice for many falsely imprisoned British drivers — including Watson.
Jakobi says: This is terribly typical. Once the French know a trucker is innocent they simply find some other grounds on which to prosecute. It is not only daft but wicked, and it is about avoiding paying any compensation."
Jakobi believes that the multimillion-Euro fine will be negoti ated down to a figure Watson can afford, perhaps €1,000 (£.694) because the main reason for it is to protect the French from any future compensation claims.
Jakobi adds: "The French themselves are beginning to realise that they need reform because much of their system is little changed since Napoleon's time. They are still running on the lines set up by an early 19th-century dictator."
Watson's nightmare began in September 2003 when he flew from the UK to pick up a tractor unit to drive back home to use in his haulage operation. He was asked to take a 40ft trailer which he believed was carrying pottery and deliver it en route but was stopped by Customs officers at Arras, France, where the drugs were discovered.