Trouble at Sherburn!

[Genghis the Engineer]

Ooops! (http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/West-Yorkshire-pilots-arrested-after.3159195.jp)

G

[Three Yellows]

Oooops indeed.

However IF they are guilty, I hope that they are put in prison and the key thrown away.

I enjoy the freedom of flying and I don't want my fun curtailled by a pair of muppets.

[sternone]

I hope they split this fake country i'm living in very soon ...

It's amazing how lazy that French part of Belgium is, instead of working like normal people, all they do over there are criminal activities, good thing they were caught.

[Rod1]

This is no coke, I mean joke.

Rod1

[CDH]

A bit ironic his duties as a Director were Membership, Marketing & Social events:ooh:

[bogbeagle]

Priceless.:ok::ok: Couldn't happen to a nicer chap.
Me, bitter?

[IO540]

I can understand the desire to make money out of criminal activity, but I don't understand how somebody can be so stupid so as to

- make contact with a bunch of people wanting to ferry many kg of dope (who are bound to be under surveillance sooner or later)

- use a plane whose number is written on the side in huge letters and which can thus be traced both to the owner and the pilot at the time (and which is bound to be under surveillance sooner or later)

Surely a small boat is the way to do this?

[stiknruda]

IO540

You've got a boat haven't you?

And an expensive aeroplane?

(I wish I could make the smiley things work - I want the winky one afterthe top line and the evil grin at the end of the second!!)

[Saab Dastard]

27 Kgs of cocaine? I bet they hadn't done their W&B checks either!

Gives a whole new meaning to "flying the line".

Sorry.

SD

[IO540]

SD - you're on form tonight ;) :ok:

Stik - I haven't got a boat and have zero interest in boats. I spend enough time in the water when windsurfing...

[maxdrypower]

For once we have to thank the lord for written exams . In my professional capacity I have dealt with many importers and suppliers of drugs over the years . The smarter ones avoid boats as they are too easily detected , believe it or not . Pilots are by their general nature intelligent and not risk takers and it takes a lot of money to convince one to fly drugs around for them . This is obviously not without its exceptions . The one thing that several of them have said to me is that they would have loved to have bought a helicopter and done it themselves however they are very loathed to take any form of exams especially ones associated with flying. Famously a certain big merseyside importer and perhaps britains biggest earning , once turned up at barton enquiring about that very thing , it was the exams that put him off too .
But theres always one idiot or perhaps two

[smarthawke]

I seem to remember one not so bright individual was caught importing drugs into the UK a few years back because we has claiming the fuel draw back but not filling in flight plans....

[maxdrypower]

heheheheh:}:}:} again OOOPS!

[funfly]

Virtually a carbon copy of something that happened at my own club last year, difference is that in that instance the goods had made it to this country but I think the other country was the same and the quantity very simmilar - you would think that people would learn.
P.S. it wasn't me

[maxdrypower]

perhaps one of them was trying to fund an atpl :}:}

[Cusco]

I seem to remember a few years ago, a drug runner ,after landing in a field darn sarf with his cargo, hopped off the leading edge of the wing and minced himself in the rotating prop.

No, pretty dim, I'd say , certainly no match for the exams

Cusco:rolleyes:

[smarthawke]

And there was the lad who used his paradropping C180 (185?) to nip over to France, fill it full of ecstacy - and then get caught by the french police. When he was in the nick, he wrote to another para pilot mate and asked him to sit his ATPL exams on his behalf..... Says something about the intelligence of some of these people. Oh, and no his mate didn't take the exams - he'd passed them once already and wasn't about to go through that again pretending to be someone else!

[PompeyPaul]

A bit ironic his duties as a Director were Membership, Marketing & Social events:ooh:
I bet the social events were a total blast!

[tmmorris]

Can't believe how complacent they apparently were - didn't they think someone might notice all those flight plans being filed from Sherburn to the same obscure Belgian airstrip? Couldn't they at least have varied the pickup point?

Agree that IF guilty they should be made an example of.

Tim

[ppvvmm]

according to the newspaper report, all of this happened back in July.... so it has taken a really long time to leak to the press!

maybe Belgian police are secretive, unlike here?

pvm

[Pilotdom]

Also......,

The flights were not from Sherburn, they were from Sheffield. The flights were conducted in a rented aircraft from a flying school based at Sheffield. No flights in this particular instance departed or arrived to/from Belgium carrying any illegal substance. The aircraft used is now back in the UK and flying again at Sheffield.

[TSR22]

Hi All,
I was disappointed to see that the newspaper had put the Sherburn logo on both the website and the newspaper - especially since Sherburn as a club have NO INVOLVEMENT whatsoever in any of this!!!
Nice work journalists..:D
I just feel sorry for the families and how it will affect them - I hope, for their benefit, that this blows over quickly..
P.S. Bogbeagle - nice to see you still around :ok:- what r u up to these days - still flying??

[Saab Dastard]

Stephen Jackson, a director at Sherburn Aero Club, near Leeds, and learner pilot Leon Franklin had their plane raided by detectives as it was taxiing for take-off from an airstrip in Belgium bound for Sheffield.

Jackson, 49, from Sherburn-in-Elmet, is a director of the club with responsibilities for membership, marketing and social events.

Being a director of the club means that it has nothing to do with club? :confused::confused:

It's statements like that that give journo-bashing a bad name!

SD

[TSR22]

Being on the club committee doesn't mean that the club would endorse, encourage or be involved in any way - or do you think otherwise?
Explaining someone's position as background information is fine - plastering club logos across newspapers - thereby tacitly suggesting a link is surely misleading. In any case, the aeroplane didn't come from Sherburn!!
Bad name for journalists....never!!!!!:E

[ppvvmm]

TSR22 said...

I just feel sorry for the families and how it will affect them - I hope, for their benefit, that this blows over quickly..


yes those pesky belgian police causing such stress and upset.

how much better it would have been had they stayed in their police station and let the (alleged) 27kg/£2.5m cargo travel to the UK.

all the £££ riches lost, all the drug users saved from despair and death!

Surely, if guilty, we should rejoice that they were caught and hope it doesnt "blow over" until after a good long stretch of prison?

pvm

[DX Wombat]

Surely, if guilty, we should rejoice that they were caught and hope it doesnt "blow over" until after a good long stretch of prison?
I agree. I have spent far too many hours cuddling inconsolable, screaming, drug-addicted babies. I mean screaming. These poor babies do not simply cry, they scream and scream for hours on end and require drug therapy in decreasing doses to stop their addiction. The screaming is one of, if the THE most distressing sound you can ever hear. I have NO sympathy whatsoever with drug dealers. It may, however, be possible that the families of these alleged drug smugglers were completely in the dark about their extra-curricular activites and in that case I do feel sorry for them as it will have come as a great shock.

[TSR22]

I quite agree - anybody caught doing this kind of thing should be punished. It is a most despicable thing to be involved in, and I am sure that these people don't give a thought to the repercussions and suffering of their families, addicts and all the victims of crime and poverty that surround the drugs trade.
Most of the people who suffer are the innocents (including the families of those caught). My thoughts are with all of these people.
The dealers, trafficers and producers all deserve what they get.

[maxdrypower]

As stated earlier in the thread I have spent a large portion of my professional career dealing with those concerned in the import , supply and misuse of such products . One thing I can say in that time I cannot remember a single instance where the family of a supplier were unaware of what they were up to and were not living of the proceeds of the ill gotten gains . Yes if the family were unaware then we are right to think of them going through what they are , but when Mrs Codshead and the young heads are all holidaying in barbados driving their chavvy suped up audi tt's despite husband head signing on once a week and being a general layabout or doing a very ill paying job , if alarm bells arent ringing then they bloody should be . The vast majority like to live in an self generated state of ignorance . But ho hum if it aint obvious to our well heeled magistrates then why should it be obvious to the prolls

[bogbeagle]

I used to work at Sherburn...instructing...so I know the people in question quite well; I've flown with them all at various times.

It always surprised me that Jan Coster claimed that the instructors were fairly paid and that she could manage OK on the income. Makes you think!

I suppose that some evil-doer might have slipped the drugs into the aircraft whilst the crew wasn't looking....I mean, that's possible....isn't it?

[maxdrypower]

27kgs of coke go unnoticed in a small aircraft , I am not the greatest pilot in the world but I would like to think my walkround and pre flight might uncover such stowaways , and as far as I am aware not many drug dealers are in the habit of putting drugs on aircraft that dont belong to them and let them travel unsupervised to locations unknown , they are drug dealers but they are not stupid , hence the pilots in question being locked up and not the Mr Big who will reap the major benefits of 27kgs

[The Law]

HAVE YOU SEEN OR HEARD ANYTHING SUSPICIOUS IN RELATION TO THIS OR ANY OTHER INCIDENT?

IF SO, PLEASE CONTACT NORTH YORKSHIRE POLICE PORTS OFFICE ON 01609 789188.

How can I help?

Whether you are involved in aviation or maritime travel you can help by;

As a pilot/owner be aware of your responsibilities and comply with legislation.
By being vigilant and notifying the Police immediately of anything suspiciousWhat to look for

Evidence of any unauthorised activity at your airstrip/port
Packages being transferred from aircraft to vehicle in an unusual manner, location or time
Strangers trying to hire your boat/aircraftIf you notice anything unusual

DO NOT involve yourself
DO NOT touch any suspicious packages
Make a note of any registration numbers, markings or description
Call the Ports Unit/Police immediately.Your information will be treated in confidence.

http://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/images/police_05-05.jpg

[mylesd]

From what I have heard, both of the pilots have been released with full acquittals and all charges have been dropped. It turns out the person carrying the cocaine had no knowledge of the contents (as confirmed by Belgian police surveillance reports) and the pilot of the plane, Stephen Jackson, had flown off to refuel the plane at a different airport and was scheduled to return 45 minutes later, was not caught with anything illegal, either on his person or in the plane itself. In this instance ignorance was a great defence for the carrier. Had the person carrying the boxes known what was inside or checked to confirm the contents it would have been a totally different scenario.

The newspaper reports were almost 90% inaccurate the only thing they reported correctly was that two people were arrested and cocaine was involved.

The cocaine never made it to the plane, in fact the mule was so unaware of the contents, that he spent 30 minutes inside a shop buying chocolate, the taxi was waiting outside with the cargo in the boot. No one who knows they are in possession of 2.5 million pounds worth of cocaine would willingly leave it in the back of a taxi and go into some shops to get some duty free.

So the official line is, both people were innocent and both have been released without charge after spending 9 months in a Belgian prison.

P.s. Sorry for the thread bump but I thought I'd post as you guys seem to know at least something about Stephen Jackson and his escapades.

[airborne_artist]

The newspaper reports were almost 90% inaccurate No surprises there then.

I'm glad that they've been acquitted. :ok: