Christopher Corkill, 44, was jailed for 19 months and Lisa Barnett, 42, for 18 months at Douglas Courthouse on Friday.[1] The couple, of Marathon Road in Douglas, admitted arranging to have the parcel delivered to a separate address on 28 January.[1] They also pleaded guilty to attempting to possess the drug with intent to supply.[1] Deemster Graeme Cook, the judge, said Corkill’s letter expressing remorse about involving Barnett said the right things but that he remained a supplier of drugs.[1] The deemster rejected the argument that Barnett had been dragged into the situation, saying she had a choice and chose to get involved.[1]

The couple imported more than £29,000 of cannabis to the Isle of Man through the post.[1] Prosecutors said the allegations at their first appearance concerned 992.1 grams of cannabis valued at £29,763.[2] The court was told the drugs were hidden inside a pillow in a large white box addressed to a property on Tynwald Terrace, in Douglas, which postal staff reported as suspicious.[1] Police found the pair in a car outside the house and a note on the door asking for parcels to be left in the porch.[1] The couple were arrested after a search of their home and phones found evidence of drug dealing.[1]

At that first hearing Barnett pleaded guilty to attempting to possess cannabis with intent to supply, being concerned in the production of cannabis to the island and being concerned in the supply of cannabis, while Corkill pleaded not guilty to the same three charges.[2] Corkill had been released from prison in February 2020 for previous drugs offences and was on licence at the time of the offence.[1] Barnett was also resentenced for attempting to send £5,000 hidden in a box of chocolates to an address in Liverpool to pay off a drug debt for her son, for which she had originally received a community service order.[1]