Four jailed for importing cannabis on fishing boat

Four men have been jailed for their parts in a plot to smuggle £310,000 worth of cannabis to the Isle of Man on a fishing boat.

John Skillen, 44, Jordan Corkill, 26, Ashley Harrison, 36, and Jamie Smith, 37, were involved in a plot to take the drugs from Whitehaven to the island on 17 November 2023 on the vessel the Boy Shayne.

Douglas Courthouse heard the drugs were packed in a black holdall along with 98 vapes laced with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) worth £3,000.

While the bag was originally due to be transferred to a rigid inflatable boat at Laxey Bay, it was instead brought into Douglas Harbour, where police intercepted the drugs.

The court heard Skillen, of Archallagan Terrace in Foxdale, had originally been asked to bring a person from Whitehaven to the island on his vessel in exchange for £2,000, with his skipper, Corkill, offered "a few hundred pounds" for his involvement.

When the boat arrived in Whitehaven he was instead handed the holdall containing 54 packages of cannabis along with the vapes.

He then sailed the boat to Laxey Bay where the rigid inflatable, owned by Harrison, was supposed to meet the vessel and transport the drugs to the island, but it did not arrive.

The court was told Harrison, of Kerrowmoar in Sulby, had asked his friend Jordan Halligan-Bunce, who was unaware of the operation, to pilot his vessel from Peel to Laxey.

However, the 21-year-old, of Bromet Road in Castletown, had grounded the rigid inflatable in his home town when he discovered the drugs plot.

The court heard Smith, who had been in contact with the Boy Shayne's owner over a five week period ahead of the operation, then instructed the boat go to Douglas Harbour instead.

Skillen, who was waiting at the harbour in a car, was seen being handed the holdall after the boat arrived at about 21:45 GMT and both he and Corkill were arrested.

Smith was jailed for five years after he pleaded guilty to the importation of both the cannabis and THC vapes.

Harrison admitted being concerned in the importation of both the cannabis and THC vapes and was sentenced to three years and 11 months.

Skillen, who pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply, possession of THC vapes with intent to supply, and the importation of both, was jailed for three years and nine months.

Corkill admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis, concerned in the supply of THC vapes, as well as the importation of both and was sent to prison for three years and six months.

Halligan-Bunce, who was found guilty of being concerned in the importation of cannabis and THC vapes after a trial, was handed a 21-month sentence, suspended for two years.

Deemster Bernard Richmond told Skillen and Corkill, that while he accepted they may not have known what he was involved in from the outset, it "became clear" it was something illegal.

He told Harrison his role was a "very important cog on the wheel" by providing the rigid inflatable and engaging Halligan-Bunce.

Suspending Halligan-Bunce's sentence, Deemster Richmond told him he should have asked questions of Harrison, but said it was to his "credit" that once he found out about the plot he had done "everything you could to make sure your mission was aborted".

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