Freshwater Five
All I am is a fisherman. That’s all I’m guilty of, Your Honour.
On 31 May 2010 eleven holdalls were discovered along the shore near Freshwater on the Isle of Wight; when opened they contained £53m worth of cocaine – the biggest haul ever found in UK waters. A local fishing crew was accused of waiting in the Channel for the bags to be thrown from a passing cargo ship in an operation allegedly masterminded by a local scaffolder.
The Freshwater Five is a true story that cuts to the heart of the British judicial system. Did five men really attempt one of the world’s biggest drug smuggling operations – or were they simply in the wrong place, at the wrong time? Why did the police hastily alter key surveillance statements, why were logs blacked out or mysteriously left empty – and why was crucial evidence never disclosed at trial? All five men fiercely denied the allegations, but a jury rejected their version of the events.
This is the story of what actually happened as told by the skipper of the crew. It’s a story that reveals the human misery of brutal prison sentences and a story that leaves the reader with one question: Does the British legal system really dispense justice?
Mike Dunn is the author of two books: Grey Wolf (SJH, 2016) and The Belt Boy (Austin Macauley, 2016), which was shortlisted for the UK’s top two sports book awards and made GQ magazine’s top 10 essential reads of 2017. He is the former sports editor of News of the World/Sun/Independent and the Standard.