Jay Emmanuel-Thomas pleads guilty to cannabis import charge after being arrested at Stansted airport in 2024.
In connection with an attempt to smuggle £600,000 worth of cannabis via Stansted airport from Thailand, football player Jay Emmanuel-Thomas entered a guilty plea to a charge of cannabis importation.
Following his imprisonment last year, Scottish Championship team Greenock Morton fired the 34-year-old striker. Before relocating north of the border, the footballer, who graduated from Arsenal’s system and made his professional debut under Arsène Wenger in 2010, had played for Ipswich, Bristol City, and QPR. At a hearing on May 7, he entered a guilty plea, allowing his case to be publicised following the lifting of reporting limitations on Wednesday.
At Chelmsford Crown Court, Emmanuel-Thomas entered a guilty plea to fraudulently circumventing the ban on cannabis imports from July 1, 2024, until September 2, 2024.
The football player, who has also played for Thai team PTT Rayong and Scottish clubs Livingston and Aberdeen, was placed under detention in custody until his sentencing date, which has not yet been set.
In September 2024, National Crime Agency (NCA) officers detained Emmanuel-Thomas, a resident of Gourock, Inverclyde, Scotland. His arrest followed the NCA’s seizure of an estimated £600,000 worth of the class B narcotic on September 2, as it was being trafficked through Stansted.
Officers from the Border Force found about 60 kg (132 lb) of the narcotic in two suitcases that had been flown in from Bangkok. Since prosecutors provided no evidence in their case, co-defendants Rosie Rowland and Yasmin Piotrowska, who also rejected the charge, will not be prosecuted.
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”.
Through a video link, Emmanuel-Thomas attended the hearing on Wednesday from Chelmsford prison. He was asked whether he would want to attend his sentencing in person or via video link, and he requested that the date be fixed administratively.