A LORRY driver accused of smuggling 45.5kg of pure amphetamine worth over £3m through Dover has walked free from a court after being acquitted.

Sean Gengler, 38, told customs he knew nothing of the eight unmarked cardboard cartons concealed among boxes of car parts, he had driven back from Germany.

He was arrested at Dover docks on January 21 after a lorry scan but in interviews said he had watched the truck being loaded in Germany and had made one overnight stop on the return.

Tachograph evidence showed he had detoured from the Belgian A3 near Liege and made a 33 minute stop, long enough, said the Crown to conceal the drugs.

Mr Gengler gave no explanation for the short stop during his interviews and didn’t give evidence during his trial at Canterbury Crown Court

But Judge Timothy Nash in summing up said it could simply have been that Mr Gengler got lost.

Mr Gengler lives at of Bacup Road, Todmorden, Yorkshire.