Latest news with #JayEmmanuel-Thomas
Daily Record
5 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Record
Ex-Greenock Morton player sent girlfriend to Thailand to smuggle drugs she thought was gold
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas acted as an intermediary between drug suppliers in Thailand and pushers in the UK, an investigation revealed. An ex-Greenock Morton player sent his girlfriend and her friend on a drug smuggling trip to Thailand to bring £600,000 worth of cannabis into the UK. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, 34, who played for the club last year until his arrest, admitted to recruiting Yasmin Piotrowska and Rosie Rowland to carry the drugs. The pair were stopped and searched at London Stansted Airport on September 2, 2024, and told Border Force officers they believed they were transporting gold. Thomas' girlfriend Piotrowska, 33, and Rowland, 29, were each carrying two suitcases, which were searched to reveal a total of 60kg of cannabis - 15kg in each case. They were later charged with smuggling cannabis, Glasgow Live reports. Following their arrest, Thomas said: "I just feel sorry for the girls." However, Thomas, from Gourock, Inverclyde pleaded guilty to orchestrating the smuggling operation in an appearance at Chelmsford Crown Court earlier this month. The two women were acquitted after the crown offered no evidence against either of them. The National Crime Agency (NCA) said Thomas was an intermediary between suppliers in Thailand and drug pushers in the UK. Their investigation revealed that the women had made an almost identical journey in July 2024 with Thomas' encouragement, with all expenses paid and a promised reward of £2,500. Thomas had previously played for Thai club PTT Rayong in 2019. He signed for Morton last July, but was sacked following his arrest on September 18. David Philips, NCA senior investigating officer, said: "Organised crime groups make significant profits by trafficking and selling perceived high-quality cannabis legally grown in the US, Canada and Thailand illegally in the UK. " Organised criminals like Thomas can be very persuasive and offer payment to couriers. But the risk of getting caught is very high and it simply isn't worth it." Thomas is due to be sentenced at a later date.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
From teenage Arsenal prodigy to convicted drug smuggler
As a footballer, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas seemed destined for greatness. But a drug-smuggling conviction has left his career and reputation in tatters. How did things unravel so dramatically for a player once tipped for the top? Hailed by legendary Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger as a footballer who could "play anywhere", Emmanuel-Thomas was marked out early on as having elite potential. Imposing, technically gifted and surprisingly agile, the striker appeared to have the world at his feet. But a career that promised so much at Arsenal faltered and saw him spend years flitting between the second and third tiers of English football. In 2020 he moved to play in Scotland and was still plying his trade north of the border when, on 18 September, he was arrested at his home in Gourock, near Glasgow. Sixteen days earlier, Border Force officers had stopped two women at London Stansted Airport and found drugs in their cases. It was not a minor haul; they were staring at cannabis with a street value of £600,000. How did it get there? The evidence soon led detectives to Emmanuel-Thomas. Wind back a decade and a half, and things were very different. It is 26 May 2009, and Arsenal's latest batch of academy talents can barely contain their excitement. The young prospects, including Jack Wilshere and Francis Coquelin, have just won the FA Youth Cup. One player in particular has stood out: their 16-year-old captain, Emmanuel-Thomas, who has scored in every round of the competition. "These young men have a very bright future indeed," remarked one commentator. But despite going on to make five first-team appearances, it was not quite to be for Emmanuel-Thomas. He was shipped out on several loans before leaving the north London club for Ipswich Town. It was a move that excited supporters in Suffolk, who were keen to see what the former Arsenal starlet could produce. However, 71 games and eight goals later, Emmanuel-Thomas had not quite made the mark fans hoped for, and he moved to Bristol City in a player exchange deal. Here, he helped the Robins secure promotion to the Championship and became something of a cult hero, scoring 21 goals in his first season. A move to Queens Park Rangers followed, with subsequent loan spells at MK Dons and Gillingham. But in 2019, Emmanuel-Thomas accepted a transfer to a Thai-based team that would alter the course of his life. It is believed he was tempted into the country's drugs underworld while playing for PTT Rayong, a club that folded in the same year. Despite later moves to an Indian side and several Scottish outfits, including Aberdeen, Emmanuel-Thomas never shook off the criminal connections he made. By the time he took a six-month contract at Greenock Morton, a 40-minute drive from Glasgow, the game was almost up. As he lined up for them against Queens Park on 14 September, he would have surely known the law was about to catch up with him. The women arrested at Stansted were his 33-year-old girlfriend, Yasmin Piotrowska, and her friend Rosie Rowland, 28. Emmanuel Thomas, by then 33, appeared in court charged with orchestrating the attempted importation of drugs, and was sacked by his club. Detectives discovered he had duped Ms Piotrowska, from north-west London, and Ms Rowland, from Chelmsford, into travelling to Thailand with the promise of £2,500 in cash and an all-expenses-paid trip. Their job? To bring home two suitcases each, filled with what they were assured was gold, Chelmsford Crown Court heard. They flew business class from Bangkok, landing in Essex via Dubai. Unknown to them, they were smuggling in cannabis with a street value of £600,000, vacuum-packed inside the four cases. The pair were stopped and arrested by Border Force officers, before being charged with drug importation offences. With the pair in custody, and Emmanuel-Thomas later remanded, police probed how the drugs made it to the UK. They soon found the player was the intermediary between suppliers in Thailand and dealers in the UK, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA). With the footballer's encouragement, the women had also made a near-identical trip in July, having been made similar promises of cash and a lavish holiday. On his way to custody, Emmanuel-Thomas even told NCA officers: "I just feel sorry for the girls." His first court hearing in September was told he carried out "extensive research" into flights and directions, including which airports the women had been going to. David Philips, a senior NCA investigator, said "organised criminals like Emmanuel-Thomas" used persuasion and payment to get people to do their dirty work. "But the risk of getting caught is very high and it simply isn't worth it," he added. During several court appearances, Emmanuel-Thomas, of Cardwell Road, Gourock, strenuously denied attempting to import cannabis. However, he changed his plea to guilty at the start of May and restrictions on reporting this were lifted on Wednesday. Charges against both Ms Piotrowska and Ms Rowland were dropped after the prosecution revealed they had been tricked by Emmanuel-Thomas. It followed what David Josse KC described as a "very thorough investigation". Emmanuel-Thomas appeared via video link from HMP Chelmsford at his latest court hearing. When he returns to court for sentencing, on a date still to be confirmed, it will not be his first time in the spotlight. But it will be for very different reasons to the day he lifted that trophy aloft in 2009. Follow East of England news on X, Instagram and Facebook: BBC Beds, Herts & Bucks, BBC Cambridgeshire, BBC Essex, BBC Norfolk, BBC Northamptonshire or BBC Suffolk. Footballer admits plot to smuggle £600k of cannabis Footballer denies plot to smuggle £600k cannabis Footballer sacked after £600,000 cannabis smuggling charge HM Courts and Tribunals Service National Crime Agency
Press and Journal
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Press and Journal
Former Aberdeen player Jay Emmanuel-Thomas admits £600,000 drug smuggling charge
Former Aberdeen FC player Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has admitted smuggling drugs through an airport. The shamed striker – who played for the Dons in 2021/22 – was sacked by Greenock Morton after his arrest last year in connection with trying to smuggle £600,000 of cannabis from Thailand to London. The 34-year-old originally denied drug importation but admitted the charge on May. This can now be reported after reporting restrictions were lifted today. We can today reveal that the National Crime Agency were monitoring the movements of two women as they tried to important several suitcases worth of cannabis from Bangkok to Stansted Airport in September 2024. When the women arrived in London, police questioned them. They had two suitcases each, which were searched, and a total of 60kg of cannabis – 15kg in each bag – was recovered. It emerged that the women were Emmanuel-Thomas's girlfriend Yasmin Piotrowska, 33, and her friend Rosie Rowland, 29. The pair told the authorities they thought they were bringing gold back into the country. And, though they were originally charged, all charges against them have been dropped. Instead, police pursued Emmanuel-Thomas, who had at one time lived in Thailand while playing football there. Officers arrested him at his home in Cardwell Road in Gourock, Inverclyde last September 2024. The NCA said it is believed that Emmanuel-Thomas 'was the intermediary between suppliers in Thailand and drug pushers in the UK'. The investigation revealed that, with Thomas's encouragement, the women had made a near identical trip – all expenses paid and a promised payment of £2,500 – a few months earlier in July. On his way to custody after being arrested, he said unprompted: 'I just feel sorry for the girls.' Emmanuel-Thomas pleaded guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court in Essex to fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of cannabis between July 1 2024 and September 2 2024. He had previously denied the charges when asked to enter a plea in October last year. The footballer was remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing on a date to be fixed. Referring to the two women involved, prosecutor David Josse KC told the court: 'At all material times, they maintained both before the events that led to the importation and after the events they said they thought they were importing gold not cannabis'. Both women wept after leaving the dock, on being cleared of any wrongdoing. After the hearing, David Philips, NCA senior investigating officer, said: 'Organised crime groups make significant profits by trafficking and selling perceived high-quality cannabis legally grown in the US, Canada and Thailand illegally in the UK. 'Organised criminals like Emmanuel-Thomas can be very persuasive and offer payment to couriers. 'But the risk of getting caught is very high and it simply isn't worth it.' The Londoner began a promising football career for English Premier League side Arsenal, making his debut against Stoke in 2010. He then went out on loan to Blackpool and Doncaster before returning to play for the Gunners. Emmanuel-Thomas drew huge praise from legendary manager Arsene Wenger who said he would go onto be a 'great player' if kept his fitness. But things didn't work out for the starlet at Arsenal and so he signed for Ipswich Town in 2011. He then had spells at Bristol City and QPR before making a surprise switch in 2019 to a now-defunct football club based in Southern Thailand. The midfielder returned to the UK in 2020 and moved north of the border, signing for Premiership side Livingston, who he represented in the Scottish League Cup final. His contract ran out and so then Dons boss Stephen Glass snapped him up in May 2021. Glass hailed Emmanuel-Thomas was 'the first piece of the jigsaw' of the Aberdeen attack rebuild – and supporters affectionally called him 'Jet' after his initials. But the forward made just 14 league appearances for Aberdeen – and his only goal for the club came in a League Cup game against Raith. Aberdeen ended his contract in April 2022 and he went off to play for a club in India before an unsuccessful trial with Caley Thistle in October 2023. He then signed a contract with Greenock Morton last summer before the club sacked him.
Wales Online
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Wales Online
Ex-Cardiff City and Arsenal star Jay Emmanuel-Thomas admits role in £600k drugs smuggling plot
Ex-Cardiff City and Arsenal star Jay Emmanuel-Thomas admits role in £600k drugs smuggling plot The 34-year-old pleaded guilty to a cannabis importation charge Jay Emmanuel-Thomas in action for Cardiff City in 2011 (Image:) Former Cardiff City footballer Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has pleaded guilty to a cannabis importation charge over an attempt to smuggle £600,000 of the drug through Stansted Airport from Thailand. The 34-year-old striker was sacked by Scottish Championship side Greenock Morton after his arrest last year. The former Arsenal academy product changed his plea to guilty at a hearing on May 7 and this can now be reported after reporting restrictions were lifted on Wednesday. Emmanuel-Thomas pleaded guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court in Essex to fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of cannabis between July 1, 2024, and September 2, 2024. Join the Cardiff City breaking news and top stories WhatsApp community He had previously denied the charges when asked to enter a plea in October last year. The footballer, whose other former clubs include Ipswich, Bristol City, QPR, Livingston, Aberdeen and Thai side PTT Rayong, was remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing on a date to be fixed. Article continues below Emmanuel-Thomas, of Cardwell Road in Gourock, Inverclyde, Scotland, was arrested in the town by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers in September 2024. His arrest came after the NCA seized an estimated £600,000 of the class B drug as it was being smuggled through Stansted on September 2. Border Force officers detected roughly 60kg (132lb) of the drug in two suitcases, which had arrived via a flight from Bangkok, Thailand. Co-defendants Rosie Rowland and Yasmin Piotrowska, who both denied the charge, face no further action after prosecutors offered no evidence in their case. Prosecutor David Josse KC said that 'at all material times they maintained both before the events that led to the importation and after the events they said they thought they were importing gold not cannabis'. Judge Christopher Morgan directed that not guilty verdicts be recorded in the case of Rowland and Piotrowska and they walked free from the dock. Article continues below Rowland, 29, of Southend Road, Chelmsford, Essex, and 33-year-old Piotrowska, of Purves Road, Kensal Rise, north-west London, wept after leaving the dock. Emmanuel-Thomas appeared at Wednesday's hearing by video-link from Chelmsford Prison. He was asked if he would like to appear at his sentencing in person or by video-link and he asked that it be in person, with the date for this hearing to be set administratively.
The Star
21-05-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Former Arsenal forward pleads guilty in UK to cannabis smuggling charge
LONDON (Reuters) - Former Arsenal and Ipswich Town forward Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has pleaded guilty to orchestrating the smuggling of 60 kg of cannabis into Stansted Airport, Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) said on Wednesday. The 34-year-old, who was released by Scottish second division club Greenock Morton after being charged last year, entered his plea at Chelmsford Crown Court. The NCA said Emmanuel-Thomas had recruited his girlfriend and another woman to travel to Thailand, where Emmanuel-Thomas briefly played in 2019, to collect the cannabis and smuggle it to Britain. The two women were also charged with smuggling cannabis but the prosecution offered no evidence against them and the charges were dropped on Wednesday, the NCA added. Emmanuel-Thomas will be sentenced at a later date. (Reporting by Sam Tobin, editing by Ed Osmond)
