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'Smuggler' Accused Over Drug-Laced Rum Death
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2:50pm UK, Monday July 19, 2010
David Williams, Sky News Online
A man has gone on trial for manslaughter after a tragic chain of events led to a cab driver dying from a cocaine overdose.
Lascell Malcolm, 63, was killed after inadvertently drinking a liquid form of the drug, disguised in a bottle of rum which had been given to him as a gift.
The prosecution claim the defendant, Martin Newman, 50, was a drug smuggler whose "gross negligence" in importing the cocaine makes him responsible for the death.
They claim Newman managed to mislead three fellow-travellers into carrying three bottles of Bounty Rum for him on a flight from St Lucia to Gatwick last year.
Each bottle was laced with around a quarter of a kilo of cocaine, according to the prosecutors, worth approximately £15,000 on the street.
At Croydon Crown Court in south London, Sky News crime correspondent Martin Brunt explained a mix-up upon arriving at Gatwick laid the ground for the tragic events.
"One of the three passengers got out at the other end in Gatwick and, unable to find Newman and in a hurry for a connecting flight, passed the bottle onto a fellow traveller," he said.
Mr Malcolm died in front of his son at home
"In turn, she gave it to the taxi driver who drove her home and would not charge her for the ride because she was a friend."
Mr Malcolm's last gulp from the bottle caused his fatal heart attack from a cocaine overdose on May 26 last year.
Oliver Glasgow, prosecuting, told the court: "The mixture had never been intended to be drunk, since with the cocaine within it, it was lethal - a teaspoon would be enough to cause an overdose."
The bottle almost claimed a second victim, when a friend of Mr Malcolm's drank from it in a toast to him and got very sick.
Addressing the court, Mr Glasgow said: "There is an abundance of evidence to prove that the defendant was involved in the importation of the liquid cocaine.
"And, if you are sure about that, it follows that the death of Lascell Malcolm was the result of his gross negligence."
Martin Brunt said the court had heard from a customs officer at St Lucia Airport who said staff thought Newman was "a bit dodgy".
"He said Martin Newman was known as a record promoter to some, but often posed as an immigration officer in the UK," Brunt said.
Newman, of Wadeville Avenue, Romford, Essex, denies manslaughter and importing Class A drugs.
The trial is set to last for two weeks.
'Smuggler' Accused Over Drug-Laced Rum Death
Share
3
Share
2:50pm UK, Monday July 19, 2010
David Williams, Sky News Online
A man has gone on trial for manslaughter after a tragic chain of events led to a cab driver dying from a cocaine overdose.
Lascell Malcolm, 63, was killed after inadvertently drinking a liquid form of the drug, disguised in a bottle of rum which had been given to him as a gift.
The prosecution claim the defendant, Martin Newman, 50, was a drug smuggler whose "gross negligence" in importing the cocaine makes him responsible for the death.
They claim Newman managed to mislead three fellow-travellers into carrying three bottles of Bounty Rum for him on a flight from St Lucia to Gatwick last year.
Each bottle was laced with around a quarter of a kilo of cocaine, according to the prosecutors, worth approximately £15,000 on the street.
At Croydon Crown Court in south London, Sky News crime correspondent Martin Brunt explained a mix-up upon arriving at Gatwick laid the ground for the tragic events.
"One of the three passengers got out at the other end in Gatwick and, unable to find Newman and in a hurry for a connecting flight, passed the bottle onto a fellow traveller," he said.
Mr Malcolm died in front of his son at home
"In turn, she gave it to the taxi driver who drove her home and would not charge her for the ride because she was a friend."
Mr Malcolm's last gulp from the bottle caused his fatal heart attack from a cocaine overdose on May 26 last year.
Oliver Glasgow, prosecuting, told the court: "The mixture had never been intended to be drunk, since with the cocaine within it, it was lethal - a teaspoon would be enough to cause an overdose."
The bottle almost claimed a second victim, when a friend of Mr Malcolm's drank from it in a toast to him and got very sick.
Addressing the court, Mr Glasgow said: "There is an abundance of evidence to prove that the defendant was involved in the importation of the liquid cocaine.
"And, if you are sure about that, it follows that the death of Lascell Malcolm was the result of his gross negligence."
Martin Brunt said the court had heard from a customs officer at St Lucia Airport who said staff thought Newman was "a bit dodgy".
"He said Martin Newman was known as a record promoter to some, but often posed as an immigration officer in the UK," Brunt said.
Newman, of Wadeville Avenue, Romford, Essex, denies manslaughter and importing Class A drugs.
The trial is set to last for two weeks.
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