Sentence cut for drug mule

A man caught with two kilos of cocaine in the boot of his carhas had his jail term cut — because he thought he was carrying a different type of illegal drug.

Kenneth Panowek (57), of Alder Road, Failsworth, told police he thought it was cannabis in the packages he was asked to transport from Liverpool to Manchester last year.

He even complained the £100 he was being paid wasn’t enough for transporting class-A drugs,.

Panowek was jailed for six years at Liverpool Crown Court in June, having pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply.

Yesterday Lord Justice McCombe, Mr Justice Wyn Williams and Judge James Goss QC, sitting at London’s Criminal Appeal Court, ruled the sentence too severe and trimmed it by eight months.

Mr Justice Wyn Williams said the appearance of the packages “should have given him pause for thought” but agreed he deserved a lesser sentence because of his ignorance over what the p[ackages contained.