British drug kingpin jailed in France seeks to overturn sentence

Robert Dawes claims police used forged documents to secure conviction

This court sketch shows Robert Dawes and Nathan Wheat on the last day of a two-week trial in Paris for drug trafficking. AFP

A British man sentenced by a French court to 22 years in jail for drug trafficking accused police of using forged documents in the case and called for his conviction to be overturned, it was reported on Wednesday.

Robert Dawes, 48, who denied the charges, was arrested at his villa on Spain's Costa del Sol in 2015 after a lengthy investigation by the authorities in Europe and South America.

Spanish police secured a video that showed him bragging to a member of a Colombian drug cartel that he owned cocaine found stuffed in 30 suitcases registered to "ghost travellers".

The drugs were said to have a street value of €50 million ($59.4m).

Last Friday, Dawes filed the complaint accusing police of giving false evidence on the methods the anti-drugs task force used to seize the 1.3 tonnes of cocaine at Charles de Gaulle Airport, AFP reported.

Dawes's lawyers said parts of the initial police report on the seizure did not match evidence given by an officer.

France's highest court is due to examine Dawes's appeal on April 14.