A ONE-eyed man has been jailed for three years, after being found guilty of smuggling drugs through Bawdsey.John McCann was one of ten people accused of various offences after police smashed a drugs ring trying to smuggle £480,000 of drugs into Britain via Bawdsey on May 3, last year.

A ONE-eyed man has been jailed for three years, after being found guilty of smuggling drugs through Bawdsey.

John McCann was one of ten people accused of various offences after police smashed a drugs ring trying to smuggle £480,000 of drugs into Britain via Bawdsey on May 3, last year.

He denied the smuggling charge but was found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court, and was sentenced last week for that and possessing a controlled drug.

Unemployed McCann, 43, of Essex Close, Romford, was nicknamed Wonky after an industrial accident damaged his spine and resulted in part of his foot being amputated.

The judge also heard how congenital defects had left McCann deaf in one ear and with only one eye. The court heard too how he was being treated for depression bronchitis and severe asthma.

McCann was involved in the launch of the boat from Point Clear in Essex to Holland where the drugs awaited collection.

He had also chaperoned two others around the Essex countryside as they prepared the smuggling boat for its voyage.

Police found a piece of paper with the contact numbers of all the gang's key players on him when they arrested him.

With drugs, guns, nightclubs, and a lapdancer, the drama had all the elements of a Hollywood blockbuster and the finale was acted out on a remote Suffolk beach.

Customs officers backed by Suffolk police and officers from four other forces sprung from hiding places to capture four members of the smuggling syndicate, led by a self styled Rambo Mark Rothermel, 41 of Dagenham who had escaped a death sentence in an African prison.