Nick campaigners set up website appeal (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Nick campaigners set up website appeal

SUPPORTERS of convicted drug smuggler Nick Baker have set up a website devoted to securing him a fair trial.

And they are also making a music CD to raise awareness of his plight in a tough Japanese prison.

Nick, aged 32, was sentenced to 14 years in prison and fined £25,600, earlier this year, although vital evidence, which supporters say could prove his innocence, was ignored by the Japanese authorities.

Nick's mother Iris, who lives in Oaksey, near Cirencester, says she was contacted by four men in Japan asking if they could help.

Now, they have set up www.justicefornickbaker.org and Mrs Baker says they are also planning to release a CD.

She said: "I hope we'll have a good response to the website but we must be patient - it's got to build up momentum.

"I've already been e-mailing people with the website address but there is still masses of work to do."

Nick, a former chef and Cirencester sandwich shop owner, was caught carrying a suitcase containing £1.5 million worth of drugs through Tokyo's Narita Airport last May.

He claims his travelling companion engineered it so they would carry each other's suitcases through customs and the "friend" was later was arrested and charged with drug trafficking himself in Belgium.

Those campaigning for Nick say there is evidence the man has tried the same scam in other countries.

But, despite repeated calls, the Japanese authorities failed to consider these facts before passing sentence.

In an emotional letter to Standard Chief Reporter Paul Bull prior to the conviction, Nick told how the harsh prison conditions had left him with a bent spine and deformed finger.

Mrs Baker is now trying to raise the fine money in the hope that, if an appeal fails, he will be able to serve the remainder of his sentence in the UK.

Nick says he is anxious to return home and be reunited with his family, including partner Beverley and two-year-old son George, who live in Stroud.

Anyone wishing to contact Mrs Baker can e-mail her at freenickbaker@hotmail.com.