A Canadian national yesterday insisted he was pressured into carrying illicit drugs into the Island by a loan shark who threatened to kill his family when he was unable to repay the £4,000 he borrowed.

Patrick Anthony Howe said he was unaware that the vest he was ordered to wear contained 2000 grams of the drug 'Special K' with a potential street value of $721,400.

The defendant told a Supreme Court jury he borrowed borrowed £4,000 in March from his barber, Horace Chin, to repay a debt owed to his employers, Air Canada.

The loan was called in, but as he didn't have the means to pay, the barber insisted Howe owed him a favour.

Howe said a man only known to him as 'G-Boy' appeared on his doorstep with a handful of associates, threatening to harm him and his family if he didn't agree to Mr. Chin's demands.

He said he was beaten up and taken to the airport by four men and that their only instruction was that "a gentleman will give me a package to bring to Aunt Nea's in Bermuda".

Howe told the jury there were no Police officers at the airport before he departed, therefore he was unable to seek any help before boarding the plane.

He said that the man who handed him the vest approached him once he went though the security area.

"I didn't seek help because they told me that if I tried anything my family would get it. And, I was very scared."

Howe told the jury the man gave him the vest and walked away but remained watching him from a distance. He said that the man did not get on the plane but warned Howe that he would be watched. As he had no clue who that person might be, Howe said he didn't ask anyone for help.

He said his fear increased with a phone call he received from 'G-Boy' just before he boarded the plane when he was told: "Remember we're watching you. The person knows who you are and will contact you at Aunt Nea's (Inn in St. George's). The person will come there and bless you."

The fear of being watched was what made him so nervous when he reached the customs area at L.F. Wade International Airport where he was taken aside to be searched, Howe said.

Detective Constable Alickson Severin next appeared on the stand. He told the jury that the tablets found on Howe were each worth between $50 and $100 if sold on the streets. Thus, the total value was $360,700 if sold at $50; $541,050 if sold at $75; and $721,400 if sold at $100.

The jury also heard from Detective Constable Trevor Knight who took a written statement from Howe at Hamilton Police Station.

DC Knight said Howe said he received the vest while waiting to board his Air Canada flight from Toronto to Bermuda. He said he didn't know the person who gave him the vest, but could recognise him if he saw him again.

The Police officer said Howe said he'd brought in the vest as a favour to a friend of his, Peter Martin – the name was later found to be an alias for his barber, Mr. Chin.

DC Knight told the court that a Government analyst found the vest contained 7,214 tablets of the controlled drug ketamine, popularly called 'Special K'.

Defence lawyer Kenrick James asked DC Knight if Howe had requested his assistance in contacting the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The detective said "no".

Said Mr. James: "Mr. Howe said that he had asked you for help in contacting the RCMP and alerting them that he was pressured into bringing the vest to Bermuda and that his family was in danger.

"He then said that you told him that you could not help him and that it was outside your jurisdiction."

DC Knight denied any of it ever happened.

Mr. James continued: "Among the things he said to you, did he express his fears for his family's safety?"

DC Knight replied: "No."

Howe had earlier told the court he lost trust in DC Knight because the officer refused to record in his statement that he had been forced to wear the vest or that his family was in trouble.

He said it was only after he'd been in custody a few days that he was given a code by Police to make a long distance call to his aunt to let her know what had happened.

Howe told the court he eventually got in contact with his wife who he advised to go to London, England to collect their children and head to his mother's house for safety.

In his closing speech yesterday, Crown Counsel Bret Webber told the jury that Howe's story was not consistent and therefore not credible.

Mr. James said the jurors should consider that fact that Howe was afraid and had been threatened to bring the drugs to the Island.

Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves is set to give his summary when court resumes today.