Updates as footballer sentenced for £600k drug smuggling plot

BBC News

a day ago

Update:
Date: 16:48 BST
Title: Jay Emmanuel-Thomas begins four-year prison sentence
Content: We're now concluding our live coverage of the sentencing of footballer Jay Emmanuel-Thomas.
The 34-year-old orchestrated the importation of £600,000
worth of cannabis, which was detected by Border Force officers at London
Stansted Airport.
In powerful sentencing remarks, Judge Alexander Mills said
the footballer would forever be known for his offending.
"You will be known as a criminal," he told Emmanuel-Thomas. "A professional footballer who threw it all away."
Thank you for joining us as we brought you the latest from court.
You can read the full report here.
Update:
Date: 16:44 BST
Title: Successful footballer will now be remembered as a criminal
Content: Lewis AdamsReporting from Chelmsford Crown Court
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has been cheered on by so many fans throughout his footballing career.
It cannot be argued that he was not successful, turning out for Arsenal, Ipswich Town and Aberdeen, as well as many other sides.
Standing in the dock, he must have been thinking about how different life was for him not too long ago.
But as Judge Alexander Mills said, many will now forever remember him as a criminal.
Update:
Date: 16:45
Title: Read the full story
Content: For those just joining us, we have now published our full report from this afternoon's sentencing.
You can read it here.
Update:
Date: 16:36 BST
Title: No reaction from Emmanuel-Thomas as he is jailed
Content: Lewis AdamsReporting from Chelmsford Crown Court
There was no reaction from Emmanuel-Thomas as he was jailed.
All eyes were on him as he stood up in the centre of the glass dock.
The judge told him after a successful football career, finding himself in prison was a "substantial fall from grace".
Yasmin Piotrowska swiftly left the court afterwards while weeping.
Update:
Date: 16:23 BST
Title: Footballer sent to the cells to begin prison sentence
Content: Judge Mills orders the forfeiture and destruction of Emmanuel-Thomas' mobile phone, as well as the cannabis and suitcases.
He sends the footballer down to the cells to begin his sentence.
Update:
Date: 16:17 BST
Title: Jay Emmanuel-Thomas jailed for four years
Content: Ex-Arsenal, Ipswich and Aberdeen footballer Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has been jailed for four years.
Update:
Date: 16:15 BST
Title: Footballer watches judge intently during sentencing
Content: Lewis AdamsReporting from Chelmsford Crown Court
There was no reaction from Emmanuel-Thomas as the judge told him he'd thrown it all away.
He looks directly at the judge, who tells him he had a "substantial fall from grace".
Update:
Date: 16:12 BST
Title: 'You threw it all away', judge tells Emmanuel-Thomas
Content: "It is through your own actions you will no longer be known as
a professional footballer," Judge Mills says.
"You will be known as a criminal. A professional
footballer who threw it all away."
Update:
Date: 16:08 BST
Title: 'You knew what risk the women faced', says judge
Content: Judge Mills begins by saying Emmanuel-Thomas was the middleman between cannabis suppliers in Thailand and Miss Piotrowska and Miss Rowland.
"It was you who got those women involved," he says. "They would be taking the primary risk of going to prison."
"You knew precisely what you were involved with and what you had gotten them involved with.
"Clearly, you were aware of the importation of cannabis from Thailand and seemingly the inexhaustible supply of it."
Update:
Date: 16:02 BST
Title: Judge returns for sentencing
Content: Judge Alexander Mills has returned to Court 2 here in Chelmsford and is about to pass sentence.
Emmanuel-Thomas has taken his place back in the dock.
Stick with us as we bring you the latest.
Update:
Date: 16:01 BST
Title: What has happened so far?
Content: In case you're just joining us, here's a recap of what we've heard so far:
Update:
Date: 15:53 BST
Title: Emmanuel-Thomas removed from the dock
Content: With that, the judge rises to consider the sentence he will pass.
Emmanuel-Thomas gives a small grimace towards Miss Piotrowska as he is removed from the dock to await the judge's return.
Update:
Date: 15:52 BST
Title: Footballer will feel 'regret and shame' for the rest of his life
Content: After a much longer speech than the prosecution, defence lawyer Rose ends by urging the judge to impose a sentence that is "as low as possible".
He says Emmanuel-Thomas will feel "regret and shame for the rest of his life".
Update:
Date: 15:50 BST
Title: Defendant stares at the floor as his letter is read aloud
Content: Lewis AdamsReporting from Chelmsford Crown Court
The court was totally silent as Emmanuel-Thomas' letter was read out.
It's the first time we've heard from him since his arrest in September, having been remanded in custody since then.
He stared at the floor as his words were read out to the judge.
Update:
Date: 15:47 BST
Title: Daughter prison visits 'broke me', Emmanuel-Thomas says
Content: We're now being read parts of a letter written by Emmanuel-Thomas to the judge.
"This past year has been the most harmful and eye-opening of my life," he writes.
"At times it has been unbearable."
The footballer says he "never imagined" he could be in this situation, and he "completely regrets but takes full responsibility for" his actions.
He says seeing his daughter visit him in prison was one of the toughest moments of his life.
"Watching her walk into the space broke me," he adds. "I never wanted her to see me in that light."
Update:
Date: 15:40 BST
Title: Drugs involvement was a 'catastrophic error of judgement'
Content: Rose is now explaining that Emmanuel-Thomas struggled with moving to Scotland to play football.
"He was a long way away from his family, feeling quite isolated in a remote part of Scotland," Rose says.
"That, I am afraid, led to the temptation in this case. He succumbed to temptation and a catastrophic error of judgement."
Update:
Date: 15:39 BST
Title: Emmanuel-Thomas' football career is finished, says barrister
Content: Rose says Emmanuel-Thomas' lengthy football career helped him to "turn his back on and disassociate from negative influences and temptation".
But he explains Emmanuel-Thomas entered the world of drugs during "significant financial hard times" when he did not have a football contract.
He adds that the father of two did not realise "the enormity of what he was entering into".
Referencing the footballer's arrest, he says: "When he had that knock on the door and realised it was the police and he was going to be arrested, he realised his whole world was falling in - his career as a footballer was over.
"His football career is finished. That is something he has brought entirely on himself, but it is a devastating blow for somebody who had such promise."
Update:
Date: 15:26 BST
Title: Footballer in a state of 'seismic shock' since arrest
Content: Alex Rose, mitigating, says Emmanuel-Thomas was suffering from the "absolutely seismic shock that taking responsibility for something like this brings".
He describes the footballer as a man of "remarkably good character".
"It's utterly out of character...and it takes a long time for somebody in that position to come to terms with what he has done and what he has put others through," Rose adds.
Update:
Date: 15:25 BST
Title: Yasmin Piotrowska weeps in the public gallery
Content: Lewis AdamsReporting from Chelmsford Crown Court
Miss Piotrowska is sitting in the public gallery here listening to the evidence.
She wept throughout much of the prosecution's speech.
Emmanuel-Thomas, who was her partner at the time of her arrest, hasn't shown much emotion in the dock, spending most of his time watching on.
Update:
Date: 15:17 BST
Title: Emmanuel-Thomas could be jailed for up to five years - prosecutor
Content: Prosecuting, Josse now turns to the sentencing guidelines.
By his calculations, Emmanuel-Thomas should receive a prison
sentence of between two years and six months to five years.
He ends his brief prosecution opening. And with that, defence barrister Alex Rose is on his feet.