Drug smugglers jailed after cocaine plot ended in North Sea rescue

Steven Brogan (left) and Anthony Reilly got into difficulty as they returned from the Netherlands and had to be rescued

Two would-be drug smugglers have been jailed after their plot to import cocaine using a water scooter ended with them stranded in the North Sea.

Steven Brogan, 36, and Anthony Reilly, 34, both of Skelmersdale, Lancashire, had to be rescued after running out of fuel on 30 September.

They had travelled from Lowestoft, Suffolk, to the Netherlands to collect drugs valued at up to £200,000.

Both admitted importing Class A drugs at Ipswich Crown Court.

The judge, Recorder Richard Christie QC, jailed Brogan for seven years and six months and Reilly, who admitted to the offence before his co-defendant, for seven years.

Prosecutor Hugh Vass told the court on their return journey, Brogan and Reilly approached a survey vessel and "asked the crew for some fuel - that request was refused".

"At one point they were pitched into the sea," said Mr Vass, adding one man was showing signs of hypothermia and the other of exhaustion.

He said the Lowestoft RNLI lifeboat and the HM Coastguard helicopter from Hull helped rescue the men, who were airlifted to hospital in Gorleston, Norfolk.

Brogan and Reilly got into difficulty when their water scooter ran out of fuel, the court heard

The men were arrested after a helicopter crew alerted police to suspicious behaviour on board, Mr Vass said.

Brogan claimed to officers that he had been "fishing... but ran into difficulty", before a backpack containing 2kg of cocaine was discovered.

Officers later found a van owned by Brogan containing maps of the North Sea, a pick-up point in the Netherlands, tide timetables, a mobile phone and diving equipment, Mr Vass said.

The judge said there may have been an earlier visit to Suffolk to "recce the situation", calling the attempt a "sophisticated enterprise".

Mark Stevens, representing Brogan, said his client was a successful trained boxer who had "lost out on a fight" and "had no money coming in" at the time he "foolishly agreed" to smuggle drugs.

A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing will take place at a later date.