The case against a man accused of conspiring to distribute a staggering £2.6 million worth of cannabis has been dropped – because the evidence has been destroyed.
Francis Smith had denied conspiring with van driver Roy Selby and others to distribute the 1.2 tonnes of cannabis in February 2006 near Rugby.
Selby, now 43, from Stockton, was jailed for two-and-a-half years in August that year after he admitted possessing the cannabis with intent to supply it.
It was alleged that evidence was found linking Smith (56) who lives in Alhaurin, Malaga, on Spain's Costa del Sol, to the packages of cannabis seized from Selby's van.His case had been adjourned for trial after he entered his not guilty plea at a hearing at Warwick Crown Court in May.On that occasion prosecutor Adrian Keeling said: "This case relates to the stopping of a vehicle back in 2006 when 1.2 tonnes of cannabis worth £2.6 million was found."He said it was alleged that wrappings around the cannabis revealed Smith's fingerprints, but a report had to be prepared on exactly where the prints were, and on which layer of wrapping – which he commented 'could help one side or the other' in the trial.But at a resumed hearing Mr Keeling told the court that the prosecution was offering no evidence against Smith.He explained that when Selby's van was stopped for a routine check and shocked police officers discovered the consignment of cannabis in the back, Smith was living outside the jurisdiction of the courts.He was arrested earlier this year when he returned to the UK to attend Cheltenham races."The evidence against him rested in no small part on three of his fingerprints on the packaging which wrapped the cannabis in the back of the van."The packaging was to be further examined to establish on what part of the packaging the fingerprints fell, and the alignment of them on the packaging."But when that was put in train the unfortunate discovery was made that all the exhibits had been destroyed."When the case against Selby was completed, two entries were made on the police system – one that the matter was still outstanding against another potential defendant (Smith) and another saying it was a closed case.
"Of those, it is unfortunate but perhaps inevitable that the one saying the exhibits could be destroyed was the one which was followed; the cannabis, the wrapping, everything has been destroyed."So we have come to the reluctant view that there could not be a fair trial of this defendant. The only course open is to offer no evidence against this man."
So Judge Trevor Faber formally entered a not guilty verdict on Smith, who had been in custody since his arrest.
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