Ex-footballer Jay Emmanuel-Thomas jailed four years over 60 kg cannabis import
On 5 June 2025, Chelmsford Crown Court jailed former professional footballer Jay Emmanuel-Thomas for four years after he pleaded guilty to orchestrating the import of about 60 kg of cannabis found in luggage at London Stansted Airport on 2 September 2024, having recruited two women to carry the drugs from Thailand.
🇬🇧 Chelmsford Crown Court, Essex (import via London Stansted) · United Kingdom
On 5 June 2025, Judge Alexander Mills at Chelmsford Crown Court sentenced Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, 34,
to four years in prison after he admitted fraudulently evading the prohibition on importing
cannabis.[1][2]
About 60 kilograms of cannabis was found in luggage at London Stansted Airport on 2 September 2024.[1][2]Sentencing remarks say Emmanuel-Thomas, a former Arsenal and Ipswich Town forward, recruited
his girlfriend and another woman to collect the drugs in Thailand and fly them into the United
Kingdom, messaging them when they were stopped and asking them to delete their chat.[1]
The judge said he played a significant role for financial gain despite recent employment as a
footballer and that his conduct put the couriers at risk of imprisonment.[1]The BBC reported
prosecutors put the street value at about GBP 600,000.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Callum Roper, 22, of Holton Road, Barry, was jailed for 30 months at Cardiff Crown Court after admitting offences involving the supply of cannabis and magic mushrooms. He pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of both drugs between 3 December 2025 and 14 September 2026 and had been remanded in custody awaiting sentence.
Bolton Crown Court sentenced seven members of three linked drug gangs that trafficked cocaine and cannabis between Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent and North Wales. Five men received prison sentences of up to eleven and a half years, while two couriers received community orders and two leaders await later sentencing.
Daniel Thompson, 36, was found with 8,223.6 grams of cannabis resin, valued at up to £35,950, when officers searched a house on Moss Side Lane in Rixton in July 2023. Chester Crown Court gave him a nine-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months and 100 hours of unpaid work after he admitted possessing the resin with intent to supply and possessing cocaine.
Sentenced 1Cannabis 8.2236 kgPrison 9 months suspended for 12 months
Bradford Crown Court jailed Alfie Leahy, 21, for five years and Connor Broadbent, 26, for three years and four months over drugs found when police raided two homes in the Holmewood area at dawn on 17 July 2026. Cannabis was seized at a Grayswood Crescent address and cocaine, cash and jewellery at Dawson Street; police put the total street value of the drugs at more than £22,000.
Charged 2Prison 5 years (Leahy); 3 years and 4 months (Broadbent)
