A respected fisherman who once met King Charles to discuss the future of the industry has been jailed for captaining a boat in a sophisticated plot to smuggle £18 million of cocaine into the UK. Peter Williams, 44, from Havant, Hampshire, was sentenced to 16 years and nine months at Truro Crown Court for his role in the conspiracy.
The court heard that Williams, an upstanding member of his local community, fell on hard times, developed a drug habit, and accrued a large debt. He was recruited by his drug dealers to skipper a rigid-hull inflatable boat (RHIB) for the operation in September last year. The plan involved picking up packages of cocaine dropped into the sea off Cornwall by a “mother ship” transporting the drugs from South America.
The plot unravelled when a UK Border Force cutter spotted the RHIB. Williams led officers on a 28-mile chase, which ended on Gwynver beach near Land’s End when he ran the boat aground. He and other gang members, including three Essex men and a Colombian man, were caught.
In mitigation, Williams’ barrister, Harry Laidlaw, said his client had been a fisherman for 15 years and previously worked with children. His problems began nearly 20 years ago when his father died in his presence on a boat, leading him to turn to drugs. Laidlaw described it as a “massive fall from grace”, noting that Williams had represented fishermen in meetings with government and the King, and served as vice-chair of the charity Fishing into the Future.
Sentencing Williams, Judge Adkin said: “This was an international conspiracy to smuggle a large quantity of cocaine into the UK.” He described Williams as a “trusted gang member”. Williams admitted conspiracy to import Class A drugs. Five other men have been sentenced over the same plot, with one more to be dealt with next month.
