Collenette skipper cleared of all charges

Saturday 29th September 2007, 12:00AM BST.

THE skipper of the yacht Gin on which £8 million worth of cocaine was discovered in Gibraltar in May has finally been cleared of all charges against him.

Jonathan Kelway sailed the yacht from St Lucia along with retired Jersey banker Trevor Collenette and two other crew members, who were all arrested when the drugs were found hidden in secret compartments built into the vessel. Mr Collenette, Marin Genocchio and Kate Burman were all cleared of involvement at the end of July after having spent nearly two months in the colony’s Moorish Castle prison. There was a higher degree of suspicion against Mr Kelway as it was the third yacht delivery run he had done for the owner of the Gin, a Croatian named Veljko Vetma. Mr Vetma is in Croatia and has blamed the yacht crew for smuggling the drugs.

Read the full story in the Jersey Evening Post. Click here for subscription details. Individual editions are also available online.