THREE Irish men have been sentenced to jail terms of four and five years in Britain for their role in smuggling almost £7 million worth of cannabis resin into the country.
The three men were among a group of seven sentenced at the end of a trial at Maidstone in Kent.
Gerard Booth (35), of Kilbroney Park, Rostrevor, Co Down, was jailed for five years, as was Trevor Tinnelly (29) of Oak Grange, Warren Point, Co Down.
A third man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, received a four-year term.
The men were part of a gang of smugglers which brought the cannabis into Britain hidden in a lorry-load of melons in July 1995.
The haul was found at the Lakeside shopping complex in Thurrock, Essex, shortly after it arrived.
British customs officers had watched the lorry which travelled from Valencia, Spain, through Dover docks in Kent.
They tracked it throughout its journey and asked continental police forces to allow it to continue to its destination.
Police and customs officers finally moved against the gang when the drugs were being transferred from the lorry to a van at the Lakeside car-park.
The cannabis was hidden in 40 sacks and 40 cardboard boxes, Maid stone Crown Court was told.
The drugs were believed to have been destined for the British market.
A series of trials at Maidstone have until now been subject to reporting restrictions.
The order preventing publicity was lifted today when Michael Scott (35), of Deakin Leas, Tonbridge, was found guilty of drug smuggling.
His role was described as that of a messenger and he was jailed for 2 1/2 years.
It was Scott's third trial. The first, which involved other gang members, was aborted halfway through, and at the second trial the jury was unable, even after five days deliberation, to reach a verdict on his involvement.
The other men involved were James Rose jnr (33), of Park Avenue, Orpington, Kent, who was sentenced yesterday to three years and four months; his father, James Rose snr, who was sentenced to a six-year term; and Lawrence Mann (47), of Castle Court, Sydenham, south London, who received a jail term of three years and four months.
Donald Clifford (42), of Royal Harbour Pavilion, Shooters Hill, south London, was made subject to a hospital order under the Mental Health Act.
Mr Gerard Tuohy (34), of Earls Quarter, Riverstown, Dundalk, was the driver of the Irish-registered lorry, and was cleared by a jury at the end of an earlier two-month trial. Also cleared was Mr John Reed (48), of Capston Way, Salter Road, Rotherhithe.