Cocaine trial prosecution ‘speculative’

THE prosecution in the €440 million west Cork cocaine trial was attacked as speculative, remote, fixated and incorrect, as lawyers for two of the defendants made their closing submissions to the jury yesterday.

Joseph Daly of 9 Carisbrook Avenue, Bexley, Kent; Perry Wharrie, 48, of 60 Pryles Lane, Essex, England, and Martin Wanden, 45, who is also English and of no fixed abode, all deny charges including possession of cocaine for sale or supply when its street value exceeded €13,000 on July 2, at Dunlough Bay, Mizen, Goleen, Co Cork.

Closing submissions on behalf of Wanden and Wharrie were made yesterday.

Tim O’Leary, senior counsel, said: “The prosecution case against Perry Wharrie is very difficult, very subtle and very remote because of the lack of evidence against him... In my view, in all humility, if you do your job properly you will have to acquit my client.”

Mr O’Leary said the prosecution had opened the case by claiming that various things would be proven against Wharrie.

Mr O’Leary asked, however, what actual evidence the State — with all its investigative resources — had put forward: “What does it amount to? It does not amount to anything.”

The senior counsel asked what possible explanation was there “in the blizzard of information” for Wharrie going to Dunlough Bay with Joseph Daly to rescue Daly’s brother, except that he (Wharrie) did not realise what was going on at Dunlough Bay.

Mr O’Leary said the State said they would show from phone records that Wharrie was controlling the movements of the drugs yacht, the Lucky Day, but he said it did not turn out like that in the evidence and they were incorrect.

He said they jumped to the assumption that it was Perry Wharrie, but they got the wrong person.

“But they still drive on saying it was a joint enterprise.”

Padraig Dwyer SC said the prosecution also got it wrong after they saw Wanden in the water at Dunlough Bay where the cocaine was found.

“Simply because of the way the gardaí found Martin Wanden they believed he was guilty.

“They had one vision only, that he was guilty... They became fixated to the point where they could not and still cannot let go,” he said.

Mr Dwyer said that the State claimed a particular phone found in a dry box at Dunlough Bay belonged to Wanden because it was registered to an alias he used, namely, Steven Witsie, on January 16, 2007.

The senior counsel said Wanden was with family and friends dealing with matters arising out of his sister’s death in England at the time the phone was purchased in Bantry, Co Cork.

In relation to the prosecution claim that the particular phone belonged to Wanden, Mr Dwyer said: “Six witnesses came from England to nail the lie that he bought that phone.”

Judge Ó Donnabháin will address the jury today.