Scot home after French court ordeal

A GRANDFATHER who was jailed for nine years in France was back home in Scotland last night after clearing his name.

Alastair Campbell, from Killin in Perthshire, spent three years and three months in prison after he was accused of organising an attempt to bring 117kg of cocaine into the UK. But he was freed in December after his conviction and sentence were overturned following a retrial.

He was arrested and charged after Scots lorry driver Jeffrey Logan was caught with the cocaine near Calais.

He told the French authorities he had been told to pick up the boxes by Mr Campbell, a fellow lorry driver from Scotland.

Mr Campbell was tried in his absence by a French court and convicted of playing a key role in the 8 million operation in 2002. Six years later, he was extradited to France to start serving his sentence.

After a retrial, beginning in November, the French judge announced he was overturning the conviction on 14 December.

Mr Campbell said: "The judge said my name, I stood up, and within 20 seconds they were taking the handcuffs off me.

"I didn't expect it. I thought the very best I could hope for was me being released on time served. No amount of money will ever make up for what happened to me, but we must try to get a little bit of compensation."