Guinea work trip turns to 100 days in prison for UK pair

A search and rescue specialist hired to recover a downed research balloon in what was supposed be a four-day job has finally returned home after spending more than 100 days in a West African prison.

Paul Inch, 50, from Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, and colleague Richard Perham, 29, from Bristol, had gone to Guinea to recover the equipment for a firm when they were arrested and accused of spying.

“It was scary – the worst thing I have ever experienced,” said Mr Inch.

Lord Collins of Highbury, UK government Foreign Office minister for Africa, welcomed the men’s return after their “lengthy ordeal”. The Guinean government has been asked to comment.

“We were threatened with all kinds of abuse,” said Mr Inch, who works as a mountain bike guide, water safety officer, and as a volunteer with the Aberglaslyn Mountain Rescue.

He described the conditions in the Conakry prison as “horrific”, with 80 men sharing a toilet and shower.

“Sleeping through the night you’d have rats and mice and cockroaches crawling over your body,” he told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.

Mr Inch said the water was contaminated so they washed with a disinfectant and were concerned about becoming unwell.

He explained how he and his colleague had believed they “had the right permissions to be [in Guinea]… and then quickly found out that we hadn’t”.

“We were in court and then told ‘you’re going to prison’,” he said.

Mr Perham said: “We had to literally fear for our lives each day.

“After we had been there for two months, the UK ambassador walked us to the prison gate, believing we were finally being released but a phone call to the prosecutor stopped it.

“We had to turn around and walk straight back in for another month. It was devastating.”

After their release on 11 April, the pair were stuck in Guinea for 42 more days.

Mr Inch’s partner, Cheryl Potter, said: “Every single day has been a constant battle worrying about him.”

Mr Inch has thanked his supporters, the British Embassy and his local MP, Liz Saville Roberts, for their help to get them home.

Ms Saville-Roberts said the organisation that hired the pair had informed Guinean authorities that Mr Inch and Mr Perham “had no role in operating the balloon, no knowledge of its technical contents, and no involvement in its flight or descent”.

“Their assignment was purely logistical: retrieving equipment under the understanding that all permissions had been granted,” said the Plaid Cymru MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd.

“This has been a nightmare for the two men and their families and friends who have been focused, resourceful and determined to ensure that never a day went by without seeking their release.”