A lorry driver has admitted smuggling 17kg of cannabis hidden in his suitcase after returning from a holiday in Thailand. Barry Hunt was stopped by an immigration officer at Newcastle International Airport and later pleaded guilty to importing controlled drugs.
Arrest at Newcastle Airport
Hunt, 59, of Skellow Road, Carcroft, in Doncaster, was detained and admitted one count of importing controlled drugs. The court heard he was observed walking through Customs at Newcastle Airport at approximately 10pm on June 11 this year, having travelled from Thailand via Paris with one checked-in suitcase.
Prosecuting at Newcastle Crown Court, Freddie Adams said Hunt was asked about the bag and stated he was fully aware of its contents, that he had packed it himself, and that he was not carrying it for anyone else. When the bag was searched, 17kg of cannabis was found inside.
Contradictory accounts
Hunt provided several contradictory accounts of how he came to possess the drugs but consistently insisted he was handed the bag by unidentified individuals in Thailand. He was subsequently questioned by the National Crime Agency, and his account of events altered multiple times.
Defence solicitor Lorraine Mustard said Hunt, who has no previous convictions, entered a guilty plea on the grounds that the substance had been handed to him by an unknown man in Thailand. She explained that he had been given the opportunity to use a villa and that other rooms were used by various people who made themselves known to him shortly before his departure, removing his suitcase and providing him with another one.
Suspended sentence
Judge Stephen Earl handed down a 12-month custodial sentence, suspended for 18 months, alongside 300 hours of unpaid work. He remarked: "You're a very foolish man for a number of reasons that I can think of but, perhaps, you have already been there before me. A long distance lorry driver is usually not a stupid man."
