Trio convicted over cocaine haul

Packets of cocaine float in the water beside a rescue boat

Three English men have been found guilty of involvement in the biggest drugs seizure in Irish history.

About 1.5 tonnes of cocaine, put at more than 440m euro, was found by chance floating in the sea off the coast of west Cork last July.

The three were convicted of possessing cocaine for sale or supply. They were arrested after their boat capsized.

During the 42-day trial, the court heard "some idiot" had put diesel into the engine instead of petrol.

Perry Wharrie, 48, of Pryles Lane, Essex, Joe Daly, 41, of Carisbrook Avenue, Bexley, and Martin Wanden, 45, of no fixed address, also known as Anthony Claud Linden, had denied the charges.

On 2 July last year, a stranger ran into a farmhouse near Mizen Head in west Cork looking for help for a companion with whom he had been fishing, he claimed, when their boat overturned in rough seas.

The farmer called the emergency services who saved the man's life but they also recovered 61 suspicious packages floating in the water around the upturned rigid inflatable boat.