A respected fisherman who once met King Charles to discuss the future of the fishing industry has been jailed for 16 years and nine months for his role in a plot to smuggle £18 million of cocaine into the UK.
Peter Williams, 44, from Havant, Hampshire, captained a rigid-hull inflatable boat (RHIB) that picked up packages of cocaine dropped into the sea off Cornwall by a 'mother ship' transporting the drugs from South America. The plot was foiled when a UK Border Force cutter spotted the RHIB, leading to a 28-mile chase that ended on Gwynver beach near Land's End.
Truro Crown Court heard that Williams, a fisherman of 15 years, had previously worked with children in the care sector. His barrister, Harry Laidlaw, said Williams turned to drugs after his father died in his presence on a boat nearly 20 years ago. He later recovered but fell back into addiction after his marriage broke down and his business suffered during the Covid pandemic.
Laidlaw described the case as a 'massive fall from grace', noting that Williams had represented fishermen in meetings with government officials and met the King, then Prince of Wales, through the charity Fishing into the Future, where he served as vice-chair. 'He has made a terrible series of decisions,' Laidlaw said.
Sentencing Williams, Judge Adkin said the plot was 'an international conspiracy to smuggle a large quantity of cocaine into the UK' and 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.
