Baptiste considering legal action

Eldine Baptiste, the former West Indian allrounder, is considering legal action against customs officials after being held on false drug charges. Baptiste was accused of smuggling cocaine in a golf ball by officers at London's Gatwick Airport, and held at the Wandsworth Prison for three days. Detailed forensic tests on the ball revealed no trace of cocaine, and Baptiste was released and the charges dropped.

Though glad that the matter was cleared, Baptiste was shocked at the treatment meted out to him. "I know mistakes can be made, but the way I was treated was inhuman," Baptiste told AFP. "I don't mean I was knocked about by customs officers, but to be thrown into a prison cell and given a prison number was shocking.

"We are all human and we should be treated that way. I love England. I have lived here for 20 years and I still love the place but these people must not treat people in this way. The apology is nice, but the way I was treated is very poor. I had not been found guilty of anything but I was treated like a criminal.

"It is in the hands of my solicitor now and I will be guided by him but legal action is a possibility."

Baptiste was travelling with his five-year-old son from Antigua, where he had been watching the fourth Test between West Indies Australia, to South Africa. Baptiste's arrest meant that his son had to complete the journey on his own.