The Netherlands made serious mistakes when it convicted a British national for drugs smuggling based on the evidence of an informer who refused to be questioned in court, the European Court of Human Rights said in a ruling last week.

Nicholas Vidgen was jailed for four years and three months for his role in an ecstasy smuggling ring between the Netherlands, Germany and Australia in 2006 and has since completed his sentence.
He was convicted on the basis of a statement made by one of the gang to the German authorities but who later refused to be questioned in a Dutch court, making it impossible to counteract his story.
Vidgen’s lawyer Gabriel Meijers told the Volkskrant the ruling could have significant consequences in other pending legal cases in the Netherlands.
Meijers is now preparing an appeal against the conviction to the Dutch high court and can now submit a damages claim, the paper said.