Dunlough Bay cocaine smuggler loses appeal

An appeal by an Englishman against his conviction for his role in the biggest drugs haul in Irish history has been dismissed by the Court of Criminal Appeal.

Perry Wharrie, aged 53, received a 30-year prison sentence — the longest handed down for a drugs conviction — for his part in the bungled smuggling of €440m of cocaine at Dunlough Bay, Mizen Head, Co Cork on Jul 2, 2007.

Wharrie and his co-accused were arrested after their rigid inflatable boat carrying 1.5 tonnes of the drug got into trouble off the Cork coast, after a petrol engine was filled with diesel, causing it to sink.