Liverpool man jailed 11 years 11 months over Isle of Man drug smuggling
The Court of General Gaol Delivery in Douglas jailed a 34-year-old Liverpool construction worker for 11 years and 11 months after he admitted bringing £30,000 of cocaine and cannabis to the Isle of Man in a hidden car compartment and being involved in an earlier £177,000 importation. He was also sentenced for trying to post two mobile phones into the island's prison.
🇮🇲 Court of General Gaol Delivery, Douglas, Isle of Man
The Court of General Gaol Delivery in Douglas jailed a 34-year-old Liverpool
construction worker for 11 years and 11 months after he admitted smuggling drugs
to the Isle of Man.[1]Christopher McDougall admitted bringing £30,000 worth
of cocaine and cannabis to the island hidden in a car in 2019 and smuggling
mobile phones into Isle of Man Prison in 2018.[2]At a previous hearing he had
pleaded guilty to production of more than £25,000 worth of cocaine to the island
and possession of the drug with intent to supply, as well as producing and
possessing cannabis with intent to supply.[1]
A search of the car found 250 grams of cocaine worth £25,000 and £5,710 worth of
cannabis hidden in a secret compartment, along with a tick list and a large
amount of cash.[1]A search of his hotel room found a further £1,000 in cash
and £100 worth of cocaine.[1]
On Friday he changed his plea and admitted being involved in that £177,000
importation, having realised the other man was up to something but not what it
was.[2]He had earlier admitted sending two mobile phones into Isle of Man
Prison concealed in a pair of trainers in March 2018.[2]Deemster Graeme Cook
imposed eight years and eight months for the 2019 drugs offences, four months
for the phone offence and two years and eleven months for his involvement in the
2018 offences, and excluded him from the island for five years after his
release.[2]Deemster Cook said the island took drugs offences seriously
because of the pain to society they caused, and that the drugs in the car were a
considerable amount.[1]The judge said he had suspicions McDougall was more
involved in the earlier importation than he conceded, but accepted his basis of
plea of idle chit chat in the text messages.[1]The defence said McDougall had
no involvement in bringing the earlier man’s drugs to the island, although his
messages may have influenced that man.[1]Deemster Cook said mobile phones act
as currency in prisons, letting inmates contact their families but also carry on
their criminal activities.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Convicted
1
Sentenced
1
Released
0
Prison
11 years and 11 months
Agency type
Police, Court
Cannabis
Herbal cannabis
Activity
Smuggling, Sale, Possession
Setting
Vehicle
Charges
production of cocaine and cannabis to the island; possession with intent to supply; possessing criminal property; attempting to smuggle mobile phones into prison; being concerned with the production of cocaine and cannabis
BBC Newsbbc.co.ukJail for man who smuggled £30k of cocaine and cannabis to Isle of Man
Open questions the AI reported
The sources give the drugs found in the car as £25,000 of cocaine with £5,700 or £5,710 of cannabis resin; neither gives the cannabis weight for the 2019 seizure, so no cannabis figure is recorded for it.
Police said the earlier importation involved 497.6 g of cocaine, 1,959.2 g of cannabis bush and 10 kg of cannabis resin; none of these quantities was seized from this defendant, so they are not recorded as figures.
The BBC gives the combined sentence as 11 years and 11 months; Isle of Man Today also reports 11 years and 11 months in its July 2020 account but 11 years and seven months in its November 2020 appeal report.
Isle of Man Today gives no year for the 250 g cocaine seizure, putting it in January 2018 while the BBC says the arrest was on 24 January 2019.
The July and November 2020 publication dates are those of the articles, not of the hearing; the sentence was passed on Friday 3 July 2020.
No separate drug weights for each charge beyond those given were published.
The 2020 appeal against the sentence was dismissed in November 2020, which is outside this report's event.
The text gives a weight ("10 kg") but the figures have no kg_seized; check whether it belongs there.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Isle of Man Today: On 24 January 2019 officers detained him at the rear of the Sefton Hotel in Douglas after he arrived on the ferry from Heysham driving a Jaguar.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Isle of Man Today: Messages on his phone linked him to a separate May 2018 importation of £177,000 of drugs by another man, who had been caught with 497.6 g of cocaine, 1,959.2 g of cannabis bush and 10 kg of cannabis resin.
Left out agencies, as its quotation was not found in Isle of Man Today.
Left out force, as its quotation was not found in Isle of Man Today.
Left out products, as its quotation was not found in Isle of Man Today.
Robert Proctor, 24, from Peel was jailed for 3 years and 11 months for being concerned in supplying cocaine, ketamine and 271.5g of cannabis between September 2023 and September 2024. Police found 3.2g and 15.9g of cannabis in two searches of his home, with phone messages revealing the wider supply.
Arrested 1Charged 1Cannabis 19.1 gPrison 3 years and 11 months
Kyle Murphy, 20, was jailed for seven years at Douglas for cocaine and cannabis supply offences after police found cannabis, THC sweets, psilocybin products and 117g of cocaine. Police said he ran a Flavour Chaser shop selling THC sweets and cannabis by the ounce from age 15 until November 2024.
Kyle Reece Wright, 25, was jailed for four years and eight months at Douglas Courthouse after police found 656 g of cannabis bush and 138 g of cannabis resin, along with ketamine, at a Douglas home he was staying at in October 2024. Phone messages showed he had supplied cannabis for about 10 months and directed others to sell for him.
Arrested 3Charged 1Cannabis 794 gPrison 4 years and 8 months
Jamie Smith, 38, was jailed for 20 years at Douglas for leading an Isle of Man organised crime group supplying cocaine and cannabis. He admitted cocaine importation and supply and cannabis supply between August 2022 and November 2023 after police bugged his Comis Hotel room.