Drivers await' appeal result
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by Derren Hayes • The two North London drivers jailed for sevenand-a-half years in Bulgaria for drug smuggling two months ago will find out this week whether their appeal against the conviction was successful.
Driver John Mills and his friend Peter Hobbs, who have protested their innocence since they were arrested 10 months ago, were arrested after 20.5kg of heroin worth nearly £650,000 was found in their trailer.
They were on the return leg of a trip taking vehicle parts out to Istanbul for a company called RMB International of Enfield.
Their trial in Sofia lasted less than a day and the campaign group Fair Trials Abroad says mistakes were made that give grounds for a re-trial.
On the day of the trial the men's Bulgarian lawyer was told he could not represent both men as it was against Bulgarian law, so the court appointed a second lawyer for Hobbs. Fair Trials say this contravenes European and Bulgarian law because any court appointed lawyer has to be familiar with the case.
Links are also being made between the case and a similar one involving another driver currently serving six-and-a-half years in Turkey for drug smuggling.
Michael Chinnick was arrested in Turkey in September 1993 after 6.0kg of heroin was found in his trailer locker. He too was hauling vehicle parts for RIVIB International and was on the return leg of the journey when stopped.