Prison hell for innocent Brit
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by Derren Hayes • An innocent British truck driver endured three weeks in a crowded, rat infested Moroccan jail cell fighting off homosexuals, using a hole in the ground for a toilet and living on bread and water. After three weeks in Tangiers jail Bernard Copeland lost a stone and returned home after his acquittal with scurvy and lice and needing psychiatric counselling.
Copeland, of Ashford, Kent, an international driver for over 25 years and a veteran of nearly 100 trips to Morocco, was hauling clothes when he was arrested by police on minor charges on Boxing Day and held in Tangiers prison.
He shared a 12x8m cell with 41 others, including driver Steve Bryant who is two years into a 10-year jail term for drug smuggling—a charge he vehemently denies.
Copeland spent days without food, water or blankets before the company he had been delivering to in Morocco sent him supplies.
He says: "The conditions in the prison are unbelievable—animals are treated better. There is human excrement all over the walls and floor and there are no proper toilet facilities or beds. I shared a cell with murderers and had to fight off homosexual advances; for two nights I couldn't sleep and had to keep my back to the wall.
"It has really affected me and I will have to get counselling before going back to driving," says Copeland. "I cry at night and think about Steve living in those conditions. 1 believe Steve to be innocent, like a lot of drivers being held abroad, but unless he is released soon I don't think he will make it out."