Scottish aristocrat charged with cocaine smuggling

The grandson of a Scottish earl has been charged with trafficking 220lbs of cocaine in Kenya.

Jack Marrian, 31, whose grandfather was the sixth Earl Cawdor, denied the charge during a court appearance in Nairobi.

If convicted, he could face life in jail, which would be a far cry from the family estate in Scotland: the 14th-century Cawdor Castle near Nairn, in the Highlands, which boasts three huge gardens and a nine-hole golf course.

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Marrian, whose mother is Lady Campbell of Cawdor, spent three nights in custody before announcing on Facebook on Monday that he had been "released".

He was then rearrested and appeared in court in Nairobi.

His charge sheet states the cocaine has a street value of more than 598m Kenyan shillings (£4.5m).

Kenyan Roy Francis Mwanthi has also been charged with trafficking the drug.

The Daily Telegraph say Marrian studied economics at Bristol University and has worked in the African sugar business for the last eight years.

He describes himself as living in London, but is a regular in Kenya, where his two brothers, Finlay and Hunter, and his father, David, a painter, live as part of a "close-knit white community".

Although drug seizures in Kenya are rare, the UN says the country has become a hub for cocaine trafficking in East Africa. Smugglers take advantage of corruption among the police and customs officials to avoid detection.

Both of the accused were remanded in custody pending a bail hearing on Monday.