Haulier cleared of drugs run • A haulier, who set
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up in business after being given Clm of his father's £6.6m lottery win two years ago, has been cleared of involvement in a drug smuggling ring involving his trucks. • Richard White, of Meadowbank Gardens, Glazebury, Warrington, had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to smuggle drugs at Manchester Crown Court. The 'Prosecution had alleged that a journey made to the Costa del Sol was part of a plot to smuggle £1.25m-worth of cannabis into the UK.
The court was told that police and customs officers had seen a truck being fitted with false bulkheads on farmland before being driven to Spain. It returned to Britain with a load of onions and the officers swooped as 303kg of cannabis was being unloaded. White claimed that it was his playboy lifestyle following his father's gift that had led to the accusation. He had left the running of the haulage business to the best man at his wedding. He believed that it had been a friend who had been the "inside man" at the firm, but he had never suspected anything until he was arrested and held in custody for two weeks. The jury also cleared Anthony Toby, of Len Cox Walk, Smithfield, Manchester, and Peter Jemnett, of Green Leach Lane, Worsley, of any involvement. Four men pleaded guilty to conspiracy. They were Thomas Dawson, of Green Lane, Leigh, Lancashire; William Chew, of Winchester Road, Salford; Mark Martucci, of Ulverston Avenue, Withington, Manchester; and Michael Scully, of Bradford, West Yorkshire.
They are to be sentenced later.