Juror admits telling mother about Coventry drugs trial

The Old Bailey heard Allen was ultimately found guilty of possessing £150,000 of cocaine and cannabis at his trial in 2018

A juror accused of trying to fix a drug kingpin's trial has admitted talking to his mother about the case.

It is alleged Damien Drackley was promised £5,000 to sway fellow jurors to find Leslie Allen not guilty in his 2018 drugs trial.

Mr Drackley told the Old Bailey his mother would have got information out of him "some way or another".

He, along with Allen, Laurence Hayden and Mark Walker all deny conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

The Old Bailey heard Allen, 66, from Coventry was ultimately found guilty at Warwick Crown Court of possessing £150,000 of cocaine and cannabis and was sentenced to 13 years in jail.

On Wednesday, the prosecution told jurors there was a running commentary about the case between Mr Drackley, his mother Lorraine Frisby, Allen, as well as alleged intermediary Mark Walker, 57, and defence witness Laurence Hayden, 53, both from Coventry.

Jurors heard Frisby, 55, from Birmingham, had already admitted conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Giving evidence to the Old Bailey, Mr Drackley, 37, from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, said his bossy and sharp-tongued mother would "go mad" if he tried to keep anything a secret from her, and that he had discussed the case with her before the end of the first trial day.

"Looking back, should you have spoken to your mother about anything to do with the substance of that trial?" defence lawyer Stephen Bailey asked.

Drackley replied: "No. At the time we were told not to speak to anyone apart from the 12. At the time I did not realise that talking to anyone else was a big thing.

"It was my mum. Some way or another she would have got it out of me."

He denied that discussing it with her had influenced his own opinion.

"To me, from the evidence that was given, there was reasonable doubt so I was on the not guilty side," he told the court.

'Showing off'

Jurors at the Old Bailey heard that during the trial Mr Drackley had told his girlfriend he and his mother knew someone who knew Allen.

Dismissing the implication he himself knew the person, he told jurors it had been "bravado" and "showing off".

He told the court he had no knowledge that his mother was going to phone the alleged intermediary Mr Walker, and denied having any discussions himself with Allen.

Asked what benefits his mother thought he might get out of the alleged arrangement, Mr Drackley replied: "I think she was just running away with the drama, to be honest."

He was then asked what he thought when his mother told him she "just had Mr Allen on the phone".

Mr Drackley said: "At the time I was like 'of course you have'. I did not believe her, but did not disbelieve her because it's my mum - if she says something, I'm supposed to believe it, but at the same time it's rubbish."

He also denied there was ever an agreement to receive money.

The trial continues.