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
157
158
159
160 
Lawrence Rayment's story
Page 13
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Patrick Kennedy, or PJ as he is known, is a veteran international truck driver who vehemently denies any knowledge, or participation in drug trafficking. He was arrested by French Customs on 15 December 2001 at Abbeville when over a tonne of cannabis resin was found expertly concealed within his load of ceramic table-tops. They had to be prised open with various specialist tools before the drugs were discovered.
The company which employed him made a statutory declaration acknowledging responsibility for giving all relevant routeing instructions to PJ, but this does not seem to have helped him. Nor does the fact that the goods he picked up were shrink-wrapped and impossible to inspect.
"I expected a lot more help from the Consulate," says his nephew, Lawrence Rayment. "The next problem was finding a lawyer who spoke English. This was almost insurmountable. When we did get one, in the fifteen months my Uncle has been on remand, he's been visited by him just the once."
Lawrence echoes other drivers' families when he says the situation his Uncle is in feels like a huge mistake: "The politest phrase can use is that it sucks. The way he's being subjected to the French legal system means that any one of our family could be extradited to France by the French authorities."
Fain Trials Abroad says communication between PJ and his employer while en route took place via GPS. The system did not have a handset or dial-pad and, obviously does not allow general conversations with anyone other than the employer. But the French prosecution disagreed, instead describing the equipment as a "sophisticated and expensive" communication system used largely by drug traffickers.
Visiting PJ has also proved very difficult. "I applied on several occasions and got no reply," Lawrence explains. "I had to force the point. He had been held in a cell 24 hours a day with another prisoner who didn't speak English. So he was isolated on that basis," He adds that the French treat their own prisoners very differently to others held there: "It's an amazing site to see domestic prisoners and all the things they can bring in. The things we brought in were just taken away" Now, 17 months on, the examining magistrate has closed the file and it is expected that PJ will stand trial prior to the summer recess.