Blackburn man jailed for five years after trying to import cocaine

A Blackburn man who made a "catastrophic error of judgement" has been jailed for five years after trying to import cocaine to the Isle of Man. 

Police stopped 28-year-old Liam McGlinn at the Sea Terminal on January 29th after being tipped off by officers at Heysham that he could be carrying drugs internally.

They'd spotted him buying a one-way ticket from Heysham to Douglas just 20 minutes before the boat set sail - on his arrival to the Island he was detained by police and searched. 

He was taken to hospital after admitting he was concealing four packages - they were removed and found to contain over 109 grams of cocaine with a street value of between £5,600 and £7,480. 

McGlinn, who has no previous convictions, later pleaded guilty to production of the Class A substance and possession of it with intent to supply. 

At Douglas Courthouse last week his advocate told the court he'd "reluctantly" agreed to transport the drug in a bid to clear his own "mounting" drug debt  sparked by cannabis use. 

Sentencing him Deemster Montgomerie told him he should be "disgusted" with himself and that he was "a story that many could learn from".

In addition to sending him to prison the Deemster imposed a five year exclusion order telling him "I urge you to learn a life changing lesson from what's happened".