Nick wasn't set up says "friend" (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Nick wasn't set up says "friend"

THE man accused of duping convicted drug smuggler Nick Baker says the former Cirencester sandwich shop manager knew what he was doing.

But Nick's mother Iris says she won't be swayed by James Prunier's claims and has vowed to continue the fight to secure a fair trial for her son.

Nick, 32, was jailed for 14 years and fined more than £25,000 after he was caught carrying a suitcase with £1.5 million worth of drugs through Tokyo's Narita Airport last April.

He has always protested his innocence and claims travelling companion Mr Prunier duped him into carrying the wrong case through customs.

The evidence was not considered during his trial and campaigners claim Nick has been the victim of a major miscarriage of justice.

But, in an interview with Central TV last week, Mr Prunier, who comes from Stroud, has defended himself and says he never tricked Nick.

Mr Prunier, who is currently on bail awaiting trial for drug trafficking offences in Belgium, told the interviewer: "Clearly the story everyone's read about is his version of events.

What he's done is blame me. He says I swapped his suitcase at the airport and I didn't.

"Nick knows what happened, he really does, I know what happened. I can't tell the whole story.

"The idea that I set him up and put somebody in prison, a friend or not a friend, anybody in the world, the thought that I would do that, is the pits. Sadly, everyone thinks I did round here. And it's getting too much to bear."

Mr Prunier says that since the news broke, he has had death threats, but says he will not be driven out of Stroud.

He also denies claims that he has tricked other people into carrying drugs through customs and destinations around the world.

"I've been told personally by people, that I know are capable of saying these things, that there's money on my head again. I've had death threats over the phone.

"I'm telling you now for the record: I'm no angel, I'm not. But I'm certainly not guilty of any of this setting people up.

"I really want to see him (Nick) over here. I don't want to see him in prison in Japan. I don't want to see anyone in prison in Japan. It's not prison is it? It's Hell, and I think about him every minute of the day."

Nick, who has a young son and partner in Stroud, says harsh conditions in the tough Japanese prison system have left him with a deformed finger and a severely damaged back.

In a letter to Standard chief reporter Paul Bull he also says inadequate food has caused him to drastically lose weight and that in-mates are riddled with lice.

His mother Iris and supporters, including MEP Baroness Ludford and the international Fair Trials Abroad charity, continue to put pressure on the UK and Japanese governments to have the case re-opened.

Iris said: "James Prunier has every right to defend himself. He is very lucky he can do that. Nick has not had that privilege.

"My fight is for justice and it will go on."