A DRUG smuggler whose attempt to bring £1 million worth of cannabis into Guernsey was scuppered when a boat was wrecked, didn't get a day too long behind bars, judges ruled yesterday.

Matthew Le Gallez, whose addresses were given as Groundwell Road, Swindon, and St Peter Port, Guernsey, pleaded guilty at Exeter Crown Court in March 2003 to conspiring to possess cannabis with intent to supply. He received a six-year jail term in September 2003.

Appeal court judges heard yesterday that, compared to sentences imposed on drug smugglers in other cases, Le Gallez's jail term was "manifestly excessive".

Lawyers also argued that he thought he was helping to transport 20kg of the drug rather than the 142kg he was eventually linked to, but couldn't back out because he had been threatened by the ringleaders.

But Mr Justice Goldring, who heard the case with Lord Justice Mantell and Mr Justice Hunt, said 32-year-old Le Gallez could have no complaint.

He said that not only was he involved in a conspiracy to import a large amount of drugs to the channel island, he had also attempted to charter another craft in a bid to salvage the cannabis.

Mr Justice Goldring told the court that Le Gallez and two other men had been shipping the cannabis worth around £1 million on Guernsey but just half that on the mainland in September 2002.

The small boat they were using suffered engine failure, and was washed on to rocks at Ivy Cove, between Brixham and Kingswear in Devon.