Freshwater Five play 'shows reality' of island life

"This show is not just important because it's a miscarriage of justice - to me, it says something about the island... a reality which must be shown."

In 2011 the Freshwater Five were jailed for trying to smuggle £53m-worth of cocaine into the UK, but they have always pleaded innocence.

Jonathan Beere, Daniel Payne, Scott Birtwistle, Zoran Dresic and Jamie Green were arrested after a quarter of a tonne of the drug was found floating in the sea off the Isle of Wight.

Sam Bossman, who acts, produces and directs a controversial play about the incident, says: "It's very important for a lot of coastal places [to be] speaking about what's actually going on... there's a lot of drugs coming through."

The actor plays Payne in The Freshwater Five, and made his directorial debut with the play, which is embarking on its largest UK tour yet.

He is also artist director of Deadman, the production company behind it, which is dedicated to showcasing stories from the island's community.

Bossman says: "If you do a bit of research into how these drugs are coming through, often they're targeting the smaller communities around our coast, because there's less infrastructure there with the police and so on.

"So for me too, growing up here on the island, there were a lot of drugs around and I think the tourist postcard is a nice image, but it's not true to life.

"I think it's really important that the creative arts and this production can show what the reality is like."

The fishermen, arrested in 2010, said they were on a "routine fishing trip", but were jailed for planning to import the cocaine by disguising it among lobster pots.

The drugs were deposited from container ship MSC Oriane, though a decade later the Court of Appeal heard how radar showed their fishing boat, the Galwad-Y-Mor, never crossed behind it.

They were sentenced for up to 24 years each, though Beere, Payne, Birtwistle, and Green have since been released on licence after serving part of their sentences.

Bossman says his team tried to approach the dramatisation "in the fairest possible way".

"We try and show both sides and let people come to their own conclusion, and we do find that people often side with the men after seeing the show, just because if you look at the evidence, which is what we do, it's clear that there's a compelling case for a miscarriage of justice."

Consequently, he hopes the show's success "will lead to some real-life effect for the men", some of whom, including Green, will be available for Q&A sessions after the performances.

Bossman says the skipper "wants to speak to people and hear what they've got to say, and he wants to air his thoughts as well and have a debate about it because he's got nothing to hide".

He adds: "He's a very, very inspiring guy. He says to me that he's going to keep fighting until he's dead because he doesn't have a choice."

When Beere and Payne had their convictions upheld in 2021 Nikki Holland, director of investigations at the National Crime Agency (NCA), said officers had "continually demonstrated the veracity of the evidence over the last 10 years".

"All appeal processes have been explored and we hope a line can now be drawn under this case," she said.

The BBC has requested a new statement but the NCA said it had nothing to add.

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