Appeal to end Cork nurse’s Philippines nightmare

A Cork man has launched a campaign to help his brother, who has been trapped in the Philippines for almost two years while appealing against a 12-year jail sentence for what his family believes was a trumped-up drugs charge.

Pat Coghlan yesterday pleaded for assistance, highlighting the plight of his brother, Eanna Ó Cochláin, who was convicted in the Philippines in 2013 of possession of 0.3824g — a third of a gram — of marijuana at a Filipino airport.

“Eanna’s form is up and down,” Mr Coghlan said last night. “He’s angry but he’s coping. To be honest I don’t know how he is keeping it together.