Drug case is being stalled, say aristocrat’s lawyers

LAWYERS for a British aristocrat accused of trafficking almost 100kg of cocaine into Kenya said prosecutors were deliberately stalling the case after two key witnesses failed to appear in court.

Jack Marrian, 31, a sugar trader and grandson of the sixth Earl of Cawdor, said he was “disappointed” after yet another delay in his trial, which began in October and has been racked with adjournments. The court was due to hear yesterday from two police officers but chief prosecutor James Warui said one was ill and the other had official duty.

Mr Warui also attempted to move the trial to Mombasa so that the shipping container the cocaine was found inside could be seen by the judge.

Andrew Wandabwa, Mr Marrian’s defence counsel, told the judge at Nairobi’s Kibera court: “The prosecution is delaying these proceedings for an ulterior purpose. With every day that passes this young life cannot move on.”

Mr Wandabwa questioned why the absences had been announced “at the very last minute”.

Magistrate Derrick Kutto adjourned the trial for two weeks and told the prosecution: “Please don’t just bring one witness because we won’t move on.” Outside court, Mr Marrian’s other lawyer Sheetal Kapila said: “There doesn’t seem to be any enthusiasm for prosecuting this case and that’s because they know they don’t have a case.”

The court heard on Thursday that the prosecution had not included in its evidence a letter from the US Drug Enforcement Administration to the Kenyan authorities that is said to exonerate both Mr Marrian and his co-defendant Roy Mwanthi, a clearing agent at Mombasa port. It is said to assert that Mr Marrian could not have known the sugar shipment had cocaine hidden inside and that the drugs had been intended to be lifted off the ship when it docked in Spain en route to Kenya.