Kenya drops drugs case against aristocrat
A BRITISH aristocrat has been cleared of trying to smuggle cocaine worth £4.5million into Kenya, ending a threeyear ordeal that dragged on despite there being no evidence against him.
Jack Marrian, nephew to the Earl of Cawdor, thought his troubles were over in January when he was told by officials that he could not have been involved in the drug shipment, which arrived in Mombasa in July 2016. But just a week later he was stunned when magistrates ruled he must nonetheless remain on trial as the prosecution had failed to explain its change of heart.
Finally High Court Judge Luka Kimaru dismissed the case yesterday. “The court was in essence directing a prosecution against accused persons against the wish of the prosecution,” he said.
Mr Marrian, 33, was not in Nairobi for the court ruling but said he was “hugely relieved” that the possibility of spending 30 years in a Kenyan prison had finally been lifted.
His ordeal began when police found a 220lb stash of cocaine in a shipping container carrying sugar addressed to his trading company.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which tracked the container from Brazil to the port of Mombasa, told Kenyan police that Mr Marrian was not involved.
They identified the real culprits as a South American cartel which had intended to offload the drugs in Spain.
As a result of an unknown hitch the container continued to Mombasa, where it was opened by police acting on a tip-off from the DEA. The prosecution ploughed on regardless, despite the US officials insisting Mr Marrian was innocent.
Mr Marrian’s father, David, said: “It’s been nearly three years and it’s been properly traumatic for the family.
“But we knew that Jack was innocent and I think that anyone who studied the case also knew. It was just unfortunate that it had to go on for nearly three years.”
Mr Marrian, who has lived in Kenya since he was five, spent two weeks in custody after his arrest but was freed on bail after family and friends raised £500,000.
The case against Mr Marrian has highlighted the arbitrary nature of police investigations in Kenya. Another British aristocrat, Alexander Monson, the 28-year-old son of Lord Nicholas Monson, was beaten to death in police custody in May 2012 after being arrested on suspicion of possessing a joint of cannabis, an inquest ruled.