Michael Green, 33, was jailed for six years and four months for smuggling cocaine and cannabis to the Isle of Man in a van.[1] Customs and excise officers stopped him at the ferry port in Douglas after he arrived from Heysham in March on the Manxman’s 06:00 sailing on 21 March.[1] He told officers he was a subcontractor travelling to work on a shop, but no items relating to that project were found in the van.[1] He was arrested when he could not prove the trip was for work.[1]

At Douglas Courthouse he admitted importing cocaine and cannabis and possessing both drugs with intent to supply.[1] The BBC put the street values of the packages at £49,755 of cocaine and £10,466 of cannabis.[1]

Green told police he was a gambling addict who had agreed to smuggle cannabis to the island, was given the ferry fare and had been promised £1,000 on his return.[1] Isle of Man Today reported that he told officers he had been asked to deliver cannabis and did not know cocaine was in the van, and that he never received the £1,000.[2] His defence advocate said he had made a “wholly disastrous error of judgement” in what were “very poor financial circumstances”.[1] The court heard he told a probation officer that one of his twin sons had recently died of leukaemia at the age of three, but he later admitted the child had died 16 weeks into the pregnancy.[1] The local court report records that one of his twins had in fact died during pregnancy.[2]

Deemster Graeme Cook called the claim an “absolutely disgusting attempt at deception” and said he found the whole suggestion “completely distasteful, disgusting and beyond comprehension”.[1] Isle of Man Today reported that Green received six years and four months for the production of cocaine, with six years for importing cannabis and four months each for the two possession with intent to supply charges running concurrently.[2] He was also given an exclusion order banning him from returning to the island for five years after his release.[1]

The drugs were found in a specially created “hide” within the black Ford Transit Connect Van when a further search was carried out at police headquarters.[1] Green, from Kirby in Merseyside, had arrived on the Manxman’s sailing from Heysham at 06:00 GMT on 21 March, the court heard.[1]