Perry Wharrie (aged 48), of 60, Pryles Lane, Essex, England, and two others were convicted of murder in 1988 and given a life sentence. Released on licence in April 2005 on condition that he not leave the UK, he breached that condition and ended up involved the cocaine-importation crime at Dunlough Bay in July 2007.
Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin jailed Wharrie for 30 years today. He also jailed Martin Wanden (aged 45), who is also English but of no fixed abode, for 30 years and imposed a 25-year sentence on Joseph Daly of 9, Carisbrooke Avenue, Bexley, Kent. Daly's sentence was less because his previous convictions were not as significant compared with those of his two co-accused.The judge said: "I think these three defendants are committed and dedicated to this criminal activity. Let’s face it, they are in it for the money. They are prepared to deal in drugs, to deal in death and destruction for profit. Let’s strip away everything else, that is what they were in it for."He said the defendants had exercised their right to get the prosecution prove every singe part of the case and had lost any entitlement to a discount on their sentences for factors such as a plea of guilty, cooperation or remorse. The judge said they would have been aware of that when they contested the case.
“I heard two of the defendants (Wanden and Daly) give evidence. In each of these it was transparently fallacious what they were saying - they didn’t give the jury any chance with their story they were so blatantly false.
“It wasn’t that they told lies to the jury, it was the manner in which they told lies that they showed complete contempt for the jury. They showed levels of incorrigibility that are hard to fathom.
“In terms of organization, money spent, the number of persons involved and the commitment of persons involved they showed huge dedication to this crime in Ireland. These are not men innocently here and caught up in something. To describe them as mere storemen or carriers is wrong - these men were members of a gang.
“They knew at all stages what was going on...they hooked up for this crime. There is no evidence that any one of them was the leader but they were definitely very willing lieutenants,” the judge said. The boat bringing the cocaine into Ireland capsized in Dunlough Bay and the 62 bales of the drug fell into the water on July 2, 2007.
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