Cocaine accused claims he was 'on walking holiday'

The man who was rescued from the water where €440m worth of cocaine was also found claimed today the gardaí thought he was guilty just because he was in the water and that in fact he was on a walking holiday in west Cork where he visited the Buddhist centre and the church at Gougane Barra.

Martin Wanden, aged 45, gave evidence in his trial at Cork Circuit Criminal Court where he and two others 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.

“I am not guilty. I took no part in anything that took place. If the police had kept an open mind on this from day one I would not be here. But because I was in the water they thought I was guilty,” Wanden testified.

He claimed that he went to the assistance of a friend who called him when the engine of his boat cut out. Wanden said that was why he went out to sea that morning but he ended up being left to die.

Wanden said he travelled from South Africa to England to get central heating put into a house but the plumber paid to do the job was unavailable so he (Wanden) decided to go for a walking holiday, possibly in the Lake District.

He said a car salesman called Charlie told him that Joseph Daly was going to Ireland and that he could go over with him so he did.

Wanden said he fancied doing some fishing and Charlie said he would give him a fishing rod and they could go fishing together. “I said OK, lovely,” Wanden told the jury yesterday. While camping on Sheep’s Head on the night/morning of July 1/2 he got a phone call. “It was Charlie, it must be 5 a.m… he said, I am out fishing, the engines are giving up, could you come out and fetch me. I said, yeah, no problem, I’ll come and get you.

“I made my way to Kilcrohane Pier. I see the RIB parked there, the keys where he said they were. It was blustery and damp but quite sheltered… Only when I went out I realised how bad it was.

“He (Charlie) said, we are parked in a little cove. When I gets to the cove, there they are, Charlie and two other people. When I pulled up to the side of the boat it was full with boxes. They were obviously not fishing. I said what is going on? Charlie said, don’t worry, it is nothing to do with you.

“Obviously, something is wrong, there are boxes on this boat… I said, drop me on the shore. He said, we can’t, we don’t have time,” Wanden testified.

Padraig Dwyer, senior counsel, asked Wanden why he didn’t insist on going back to the shore on the boat he came out in but the defendant said they insisted they would go off in the working RIB and he ended up in the other one with the boxes.

He said he was left in the boat with another man, Gerard Hagan, and that they both jumped into the water to swim to shore, after failed efforts to start the boat which was drifting out. He said he was thrown against the rocks and thrown back out again and could not make any progress. He saw the boat capsizing and the boxes falling out.

The other RIB came back, the occupants looked at him and they took off again. “I thought I was left to die,” he said.

Wanden will be cross-examined on his evidence today.

Co-accused, Joseph Daly, 41, from 9 Carisbrook Avenue, Bexley, Kent, and Perry Wharrie, 48, of 60 Pryles Lane, Essex, also pleaded not guilty to the charges against them at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.