Former Bristol City player Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has pleaded not guilty to a charge of importing class B drugs. The ex-footballer has been accused of attempting to smuggle £600,000 worth of cannabis through Stansted Airport.
The 33-year-old striker, who sacked by Scottish Championship team Greenock Morton after his arrest last month. Emmanuel-Thomas appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court via video-link from HMP Durham today, Friday, October 25.
Alongside co-defendants Rosie Rowland and Yasmin Piotrowska, Emmanuel-Thomas is accused of the alleged offence between July 1 and September 2 this year. Both Rowland, 28, of Southend Road, Chelmsford, and Piotrowska, 33, of Purves Road, north-west London, also denied the charge in court.
Emmanuel-Thomas, of Cardwell Road in Gourock, Inverclyde, was arrested in the town by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers last month and was remanded into custody. The footballer, who wore a grey prison-issue tracksuit for the court hearing, has previously played for Ipswich Town, Bristol City, Queens Park Rangers and Thai side PTT Rayong.
His arrest followed the NCA’s seizure of an estimated £600,000 of the class B drug being smuggled through Stansted on September 2. Border Force officers discovered approximately 60kg of the drug in two suitcases, which had arrived on a flight from Bangkok, Thailand.
A trial, anticipated to span five to seven days, is set to occur on a yet-to-be-determined date, with an additional case management hearing planned for January 6.
Judge Christopher Morgan kept Emmanuel-Thomas in custody while granting bail to Rowland and Piotrowska until the aforementioned date.
He suggested that the trial could tentatively be held in May.