Jamie Kilcourse was approached by some ‘Scouse lads’ and told ‘someone needed to do it’
Jamie Kilcourse(Image: Facebook)
A promising young football player stopped at Manchester Airport after returning from a lads’ holiday admitted he “hadn’t been honest with police.” Jamie Kilcourse had been away on holiday with a group of friends in Bangkok, Thailand, in September last year.
But when he arrived back in the UK on October 8, the 21-year-old was stopped by Border Force officers, who asked if he’d packed the two large suitcases he had with him. He confirmed he had, and denied carrying anything for another person before handing officers the key to the cases.
But Manchester Crown Court heard yesterday, January 15, that inside they discovered 64 vacuum-sealed packages of cannabis weighing 38.78 kilos. Upon finding the drugs, Kilcourse, from Huyton, said: “I haven’t been honest – I didn’t pack the suitcases.”
Speaking from the witness box, Kilcourse was asked why he’d got involved. He told the court he had had to leave Tranmere Rovers to become a full-time carer for his nan, who was diagnosed with cancer. He also cared for his grandad, and was receiving a carer’s allowance, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Giving evidence, he said: “My mum and dad couldn’t afford to take time off work so I stepped down from my career and cared for my grandad and my nan.” With his job came regular drug testing, and he said he did not have a problem with alcohol or drugs. He said he went to Thailand with some friends using the money from his savings.
Asked by his barrister, Katie Walden, why he made the trip, he said it was following his nan’s death. He added: “I decided to go Thailand because my mum and dad had recently split up, the closest person to me was my nan. I was mentally not right, so I got away to make myself better. I went with my mates to take some time and get my head off things.”
Asked why he’d brought the drugs into the UK, he told the court he wanted to ‘take responsibility’ for his friend’s drug debt. He said: “It was a stupid decision. My mate’s only 18 and I felt responsible to take it on. Now, looking back, I should never have got myself in it – I deeply regret that.”
He said that during the holiday some of his friends had stayed in a separate villa to him, and as they were getting ready for the night, he was told they owed money to ‘some Scouse lads’ who were also in Thailand. He added they had pointed to some suitcases and said ‘someone needed to do it’, and he took responsibility because he was ‘the oldest’.
He said: “I didn’t know what was inside, I thought it was money. When I found out it was illegal, I was distraught and I regret it.” Kilcourse said he received ‘not one penny’ for transporting the drugs, and stated he was ‘sickened’ by the cannabis in the opened suitcase.
Mitigating, Ms Walden said Kilcourse had expressed ‘remorse and regret’. She said: “He has a realistic prospect of rehabilitation, and wants to go back playing football or coaching football. He has spent the last three months in custody. I ask for a suspended sentence, not a get out of jail free card but because he has a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.”
Kilcourse, of Anzio Road, Huyton, was handed ten months imprisonment which was suspended for 18 months. He must complete 150 hours unpaid work and 10 days of rehabilitation activity requirements.
Passing sentence, Judge Timothy Smith told him: “You are somebody a lot of people speak well of. Do not be tempted to involve yourself in this again, because you know what the consequences are.”