Ex-Cardiff City star jailed over drug plot

FORMER Cardiff City footballer Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has been jailed for four years for his involvement in a £600,000 drug-smuggling plot after a court heard his financial difficulties after a period out of contract led to a “catastrophic error of judgement”.

- SAM RUSSELL

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas was arrested after officers from the National Crime Agency seized an estimated £600,000 of cannabis as it was being brought through Stansted Airport by two women he had recruited his girlfriend and her friend.

An earlier hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court in Essex was told the women believed they were importing gold.

But Border Force officers detected roughly 60kg (132lb) of the drug in two suitcases, which had arrived in the UK from Bangkok, Thailand, via Dubai.

The 34-year-old striker, of Cardwell Road in Gourock, Inverclyde, was arrested in the town in September 2024.

He pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of cannabis between July 1, 2024, and September 2, 2024.

Emmanuel-Thomas was sacked by Scottish Championship side Greenock Morton after his arrest.

Prosecutor David Josse KC told Chelmsford Crown Court the “interception” of the two women - Emmanuel-Thomas' girlfriend Yasmin Piotrowska and her friend Rosie Rowland - happened at the airport.

He said it “became apparent this defendant, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, had been involved in their recruitment to travel to Thailand”.

He noted Emmanuel-Thomas “had played a few games, 11 in total, for a club in Thailand”.