AN Isle of Wight fishing boat captain, jailed for 24 years over a plot to smuggle £50million of cocaine hidden among lobster pots, has failed to convince top judges he is the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
Jamie Peter Green, 44, of Newport Road, Yarmouth, was convicted of conspiracy to import cocaine at Kingston Crown Court last year.
Green, who appeared via video-link at London's Criminal Appeal Court, and his co-conspirators planned to retrieve watertight holdalls stuffed with drugs from among lobster pots stashed offshore.
His case was referred to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, after a juror, known as Juror Nine, made serious allegations about discussions in the jury room, including that the jury were biased.
Green's lawyers argued the allegations rendered his conviction "unsafe" and urged three of the country's most senior judges to hear evidence from Juror Nine about what happened during deliberations.
But, rejecting his appeal bid, Lady Justice Hallett said Juror Nine's evidence was "not capable of belief" and would not be heard as "fresh evidence" by the Appeal Court.
The juror also claimed matters were discussed during deliberations, which had not emerged as part of the evidence during the trial.
The CCRC launched an investigation and interviewed the other members of the jury panel in a bid to establish what happened in the jury room but none of the other jurors backed up Juror Nine's statement.
Dismissing the appeal, Lady Justice Hallett said: "On our reading of the CCRC's investigation, there is in fact not only no support for Juror Nine's allegations, the other jurors contradict the serious allegations that he has made."
The judge, sitting with Mr Justice Cranston and Mr Justice Burnett, added: "We see considerable force in the submission that it would be extraordinary if Juror Nine was correct in his allegations and remembered what had happened accurately, while all the other jurors had a different recollection."