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Brit driver cleared of drugs charge hut fined £500,000
Page 8
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by Melanie Hammond The dangers faced by international operators who pick up sealed trailers abroad were highlighted when a driver was hit with a £500,000 fine despite being cleared of drug trafficking.
Driver David Benney, who worked for Bedford-based Dalton International, was also remanded in Dunkirk prison for 14 months. Now the Fair Trials Abroad Trust has taken up his case and is helping him to appeal the fine.
Trust director Stephen Jakob' explains that Benney heed two charges. He was acquitted of drug "trafficking", but a £500,000 fine was imposed for the second charge of 'transporting" drugs.
Jakobi says: "There is a real contradiction here. Our main concern is that they [the French authorities] have imposed a massive fine on somebody who was clearly innocent."
When Bonney picked up the sealed trailer in Belgium the paperwork and CM R seemed to be in order. However, acting on a tipoff, customs officers stopped his vehicle in France and found 1284 of cannabis resin and 265kg of herbal cannabis in the trailer.
The case highlights the "Russian roulette" nature of collecting sealed trailers on the Continent.
Jakobi warns: -This is a typical case of a third party hiding drugs in groupage. There is absolutely nothing a driver or company can do and there is no chance they would know about it. Yet innocent people are constantly being convicted."
Benney says: '1 feel every English driver should know the risks. Even if they don't know anything about the load, they can still be
found guilty, which is scary."
Benney will have to return to France for his appeal, which is due to be heard in May. But he says: "After seeing firsthand the justice in France, I am very scared for my safety. I don't want to be imprisoned again."
Jakobi also has wider concerns about the rough justice handed out in other European countries. He warns: "New European regulations for legal space makes it easier for people to be arrested in other countries. Judgments made in these countries are then recognised throughout Europe, including the UK."