Two members of the Freshwater Five, who were jailed for trying to smuggle 250kg of cocaine into the UK, will find out today if the Court of Appeal has overturned their convictions.

UPDATE: Freshwater Five members lose appeal on cocaine convictions

FAMILY STATEMENT: Freshwater Five: “British justice is broken and we will never trust it again”

Jonathan Beere, 51, and Daniel Payne, 46, were jailed in 2011 for 24 and 18 years respectively for conspiracy to import £53 million of cocaine into the UK via Freshwater Bay, off the coast of the Isle of Wight.

Payne and three of his co-defendants – Jamie Green, Scott Birtwistle and Zoran Dresic – were said to have collected the drugs from the English Channel in a fishing boat, the Galwad-Y-Mor, in May 2010.

Beere was alleged to have acted as a liaison between Green, the skipper of the Galwad who was also jailed for 24 years, and those organising the smuggling.

Sir Julian Flaux, Mr Justice Andrew Baker and Mr Justice Calver will give their ruling during a remote hearing at 10.30am.

Read more: Who are the Freshwater Five?

At their trial in 2011, Kingston Crown Court heard the Galwad crossed the path of the Oriane, a container ship sailing from Brazil, and then slowed down to collect the cocaine.

But the Court of Appeal heard in February that new radar evidence showed that “the Galwad never crossed behind the Oriane”, meaning it was “simply impossible” for them to have collected the drugs.

Beere and Payne’s barrister Joel Bennathan QC said the new data “transforms the picture that was presented to the jury”.

At the Royal Courts of Justice in London last month, Mr Bennathan said there had been “major failings” by the prosecution at trial, which had prevented Beere and Payne challenging issues with the evidence against them.

Mr Bennathan also said “another suspect boat” had travelled near to where the cocaine was recovered shortly after the Galwad sailed nearby.

He argued that this boat was “an alternative suspect for depositing the drugs”, which was not known to the defence at the time of the trial.

But Deanna Heer, for the Crown, said a “correct interpretation” of the new radar data showed “the Galwad-Y-Mor did indeed cross behind the Oriane and was in sufficiently close proximity to permit the transfer of the drugs”.

She also said there was no evidence that the “suspect” boat went to where the cocaine was eventually found.

As the appeals came to a close, Beere’s wife Sue Beere said she hoped the convictions would be overturned so her family could “get our lives back”.

She said: “We are never going to get the last ten-and-a-bit years back, but we can start trying to rebuild it.”

Green’s sister Nicky Green said she was “hopeful that the court is going to see the injustice here”, adding: “There has been some dark days along the way, but now … there is a bit of light at the end of the tunnel.”

Birtwistle – who did not appeal this time because a previous appeal he brought was dismissed – said: “I feel deep down it’s positive, but you just never know.”

He said that if Beere and Payne’s convictions were overturned, he would try and challenge his own conviction through the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates potential miscarriages of justice.

Birtwistle, who was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment, said if his conviction was eventually overturned: “I would go back to sea – that’s probably the thing I’ve missed the most, which I’ve not been able to do with probation restrictions.”