Freshwater part 3: the clifftop evidence – podcast

Over the past two episodes of Today in Focus we have delved into the case of the Freshwater Five. The men were found guilty of a conspiracy to import 250kg of cocaine. They insist they are innocent. Yesterday we looked at the circumstantial evidence. Today we focus on one piece of direct evidence, which led the campaigning lawyer Emily Bolton to take on the men’s case.

The evidence comes from the clifftop on 30 May 2010. Two policemen looking out across Freshwater Bay witness bags being thrown from the men’s boat, the Galwad-y-Mor. They radio in, reporting “six to seven items” going into the water. The court heard that substantial amendments were made to the police log and the parties focused on the timeline of the changes.

The description of what was found in the bay the following day exactly matched the amended logs.

Anushka Asthana and producer Joshua Kelly travelled to the clifftop in question to get an approximate view of what the policemen would have seen that afternoon. How clearly can you see what is going on 300 metres away with a pair of binoculars?

And Anushka hears from Lee Davies, a former detective inspector with 30 years’ experience in the police, including as a senior officer overseeing drug trafficking investigations. He describes the chaos of a live operation on land and at sea.

Tomorrow: episode 4 – the radar data.

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