Drug Conviction of Horse Stun Gun Inventor Stands

A man who claimed he invented a James Bond-style ultrasonic gun to stun race horses and cover up his involvement in a drug conspiracy failed today in his effort to force a London court to declare a mistrial.

Judge Gerald Butler ruled that an application by James Laming’s attorney to invalidate the four-week trial because of a technical procedure should not be upheld.

The defense claimed the court clerk had not signed the indictment papers properly.

But the judge said it was not “fatal” to the indictment that the clerk signed the front of the document rather than at the end of the charges, as the rules stated.

“There is ample authority for the proposition that the indictment rules are directory and not mandatory,” he said.

Laming, 49, was convicted last week of conspiring to supply cocaine in a multimillion-dollar operation with self-confessed Peruvian drug baron Rene Black.

During the trial Laming claimed he had invented an ultrasonic stun gun--inaudible to humans but terrifying to horses--in order to fix races as part of a plot to launder drug money.

He claimed the gun, hidden in a pair of binoculars, was used successfully to unseat jockey Greville Starkey just yards from victory on Ile de Chypre in the King George V Handicap at Royal Ascot last year.

Two other defendants in the trial, Martin Cox and Patrick Fraser, were cleared of involvement in the conspiracy to supply cocaine but had admitted possession.