Judge in trial over conspiracy to ship £118m worth of cocaine into Portsmouth port says ‘nothing underhand’ amid jury interference concern

Michael Jordan, 44, of London Road, Portsmouth, Michael Butcher, 65, of Victory Avenue, Waterlooville, and Clayton Harwood, 55, from St David’s Road, Southsea all stand accused of aiding the drug smuggling operation.

A fourth dockworker – David Oliver, 44, of Cornwall Road, Fratton – has admitted conspiring to import class A drugs. A fifth individual – Ahmet Aydin – allegedly conspired to drive the drugs out of the port.

In April, more than 1.5 tonnes of cocaine – worth £118m – was discovered onboard cargo ship Atlantic Clipper by Dutch police in the port city of Flushing, part of the ship’s route from Turbo, in Colombia, to Portsmouth.

On Friday, the trial at Portsmouth Crown Court was held up amid concerns raised that a Facebook friend request sent to a juror from a man called Larry Harwood could be a relation of defendant Clayton Harwood.

The juror was also approached outside court by a woman in the public gallery who thought she ‘recognised’ the juror as ‘a friend’.

But any fears of jury interference were dismissed.

Judge Michael Bowes KC, referring to the Facebook friend request, said: ‘There is no connection between any person and Clayton Harwood. It’s simply a coincidence and nothing to do with the case at all.’

Addressing the second incident, the judge said it was a ‘case of mistaken identity’ when the juror was approached with ‘all parties agreeing it was a completely innocent mistake’.

He added: ‘I am entirely satisfied nothing underhand has taken place and we can continue with the evidence.’

Meanwhile, Bruce Corbett, head of security and compliance at Portico, said he was unaware of a previous drug seizure in February 2021 at the port involving 2.3 tonnes of cocaine worth £184m. ‘I don’t know,’ he said

The witness said he is ‘not involved in searches’ with that left to Border Force.

When it was put to him by defence barrister Hugh French that ‘best practice is not always followed on the ground’ regarding health and safety with workers ‘taking short cuts’, Mr Corbett said: ‘It can happen.’

(Proceeding)