The families of the Freshwater Five say an appeal court ruling has meant "a bitter and dark day for the men and their families."

Emily Bolton, director of the charity Appeal who represents the Freshwater Five, called the ruling a miscarriage of justice.

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.

The Court of Appeal upheld the convictions of two of the five.

Read full details: Freshwater Five members lose appeal on cocaine convictions

A statement issued on behalf of the families said those involved were 'mourning the death of British justice' and the families promised today was not the end for their fight to free the men.

The statement said: "These men are innocent and have collectively spent decades in prison for a crime they did not commit.

“They have missed births, the deaths of close family members, and countless other irreplaceable family moments while our so-called ‘justice’ system has kept them kidnapped behind bars.

“Today, in ruling against Jon Beere and Danny Payne, the court has once again whitewashed over what has happened in this case, just four days after Jon’s father died, having lost his battle to hold out long enough to see his son vindicated.

"The war is not over"

Isle of Wight County Press:

Court of Appeal, London

The statement said: “At this next funeral we will be mourning the death of Jon’s father, but also the death of British justice.

“This pitiful judgment is just yet another example of the system protecting itself from embarrassment and criticism.

“If the Court of Appeal and the Criminal Cases Review Commission won’t correct this mistake, where else do we turn?

“British justice is broken, and we will never trust it again.”

"The war is not over, and you haven’t heard the last of us.

“Once the dust has settled, we will be back fighting for this horrific miscarriage of justice to be overturned and making sure the public knows the full story of not just what happened here, but of the efforts that have been made to cover it up.”

"Profoundly broken"

Isle of Wight County Press:

Emily Bolton, director of the charity Appeal who represents the Freshwater Five, said in a statement: “Miscarriages of justice don’t just happen in the trial courts – today one happened in the Court of Appeal.

“The court handed down a judgment which simply underscores just how profoundly broken the criminal appeals system is in this country.

“There is no dispute that this is a case in which law enforcement and the prosecution failed to hand over crucial evidence to the defence at trial.

“As we showed in the court hearing, that new evidence undermines the prosecution’s case on several fronts and gives a totally different picture to that which was presented to the jury.

“Yet, in yet another failure to correct a miscarriage of justice, the Court of Appeal has said today that none of this matters.

"We have no doubt that law enforcement holds further evidence which supports the Freshwater Five’s innocence.

“Yet our opaque, unaccountable justice system continues to prevent the truth from coming to light.

“To those with short memories, it is worth bearing in mind that it took three appeals before the Birmingham Six finally had their names cleared."

“The Freshwater Five, their families and the appeal team will keep battling for justice and reform.”

The case went to the Court of Appeal in February. 

Read more: Freshwater Five fishermen to present new evidence to Court of Appeal