Ex-Arsenal wonderkid pleads guilty to trying to smuggle £600,000 of drugs

A former Arsenal striker believed he was “importing gold not cannabis” after being caught in a plot to smuggle drugs through Stansted Airport from Thailand, a court has heard.

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas pleaded guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court to fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of cannabis between July 1 2024 and September 2 2024.

The former Livingston, Aberdeen and 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.

The 34-year-old had previously denied the charges when asked to enter a plea in October last year.

The footballer, who has also played for Ipswich Town, Bristol City, Queens Park Rangers and Thai side PTT Rayong, was remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing on a date to be fixed.

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.

Court artist sketch of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas appearing at Chelmsford Crown Court via video-link from HMP Durham last October
Court artist sketch of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas appearing at Chelmsford Crown Court via video-link from HMP Durham last October (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

Border Force officers detected roughly 60kg (132lb) of the drug in two suitcases, which had arrived via a flight from Bangkok, Thailand. Emmanuel-Thomas was sacked by Scottish Championship side Greenock Morton following his arrest

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.

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.