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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Trucker faces bankruptcy over drug case fine Ian Burrell Ananova Tuesday 19 Dec 2000 A British lorry driver is facing bankruptcy after being fined £500,000 arising from a drug trafficking charge that he has already been cleared of. David Benney, a 36-year-old father of four, from Bedford, spent a year on remand in a jail in Dunkirk after he was arrested at a petrol station on the French-Belgium border in June 1999. He picked up a sealed trailer which had been left for him with a load bound for Corby, in Northamptonshire. Officers swooped and found cannabis hidden in pallets in the back. Mr Benney was charged with possession of 128 kilos of cannabis resin and 265 kilos of herbal resin. Mr Benney, who has maintained he was unaware of the drugs, was cleared of the criminal charges when the case was finally heard at a Dunkirk court last July. But he was found guilty of trying to evade customs duties and fined £500,000, which was the value of the cannabis find, says Stephen Jakobi of Fair Trials Abroad, who is part of his legal team. Unable to continue working as a continental lorry driver, his job for five years, he is now making a living as a labourer. "I'm too scared to go back to France, even for the appeal," Mr Benney said. "I had been a driver for 10 years and a continental driver for half that time and I basically cannot earn a living from my trade because I cannot travel across Europe with this hanging over me. " Mr Jakobi said: "It is a horrendous fine imposed on an innocent man. What has happened to him is truly shameful and should not happen anywhere. If the fine is upheld, it will probably be negotiated down but he would face bankruptcy." An appeal hearing has been set for May.
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