Daniels loses drug case
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• Jailed owner-driver Billy Daniels has lost his bid to have his drug smuggling conviction overturned — but the Court of Appeal has cut his sentence from 13 to 10 years.
Daniels, from East London, was convicted in January 1990 after Dover Customs officers found £2.5ni worth of cannabis in his 38-tonne truck. He has always protested his innocence.
Now the haulier who started a fund which raised £3,000 towards the cost of Daniels' appeal is warning that other operators and drivers could face a similar fate.
David Raymer of Aldermaston says the court's decision means that if drugs are found on a truck, its owner and its driver will be deemed to be guilty of smuggling.
"We'll never know if Daniels really knew if the drugs were there," says Raymer. "But how are most drivers supposed to know if a box is put on their trailer as part of a groupage load? Juries think of a 40-foot trailer as if it's the boot of a car." At the Appeal Court, Lord Justice Lloyd said the 800kg consignment concealed in a crate was 'massive", but he accepted that Daniels was only a courier and the jail term passed at Maidstone Crown Court last year exceeded Court of Appeal sentencing guidelines.
Daniels, whose load had been sealed by Spanish Customs officials before his return trip through France, said he was unaware of the crate's presence. But the judge said the jurors had accepted that he must have known it was there and that it contained prohibited goods.
Arguing for a reduction in sentence, Daniels' counsel, David Lord, said 13 years was wrong in principle and "manifestly excessive". There was no evidence that this was other than a "oneoff" operation on Daniels' part, and the importation could hardly be described as sophisticated smuggling. Daniels, a family man, played a subordinate role in the affair, said Lord.