Southampton area football club “absolutely delighted” to sign striker jailed for £600,000 cannabis plot
A Southampton area football club said it is “absolutely delighted” to sign a striker jailed for four years over a £600,000 cannabis plot.
Shamed ex-Arsenal player Jay Emmanuel-Thomas was released from prison earlier this month on parole despite being sentenced to four years in June. The forward had already served 10 months of the sentence in HMP Chelmsford before his release.
He pleaded guilty to fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of cannabis after border officials seized two suitcases containing £600,000 worth of cannabis at Stansted Airport.
Emmanuel-Thomas, 34, has now signed for AFC Totton after he was sacked by Scottish club Greenock Morton following his arrest last year.
AFC Totton, announcing the signing on social media, said in a statement: "We are absolutely delighted to welcome Jay Emmanuel-Thomas to the club. Jay joins us with a wealth of experience in the Championship and we’re sure his goals will lead to a successful season here on the South Coast."
Emmanuel-Thomas was jailed after cannabis weighing about 60kg was brought into the UK by his girlfriend Yasmin Piotrowska. She had flown business class to Stanstead Airport with Rosie Rowland to carry out the plot on September 2.
He was jailed at Chelmsford Crown Court after it was believed the striker may have been the intermediary between drug pushers in the UK and suppliers in Thailand.
Judge Alexander Mills told Emmanuel-Thomas he had a "substantial fall from grace" and had played a “significant role” in the enterprise.
He said: "It is through your own actions you will no longer be known as a professional footballer.
"You will be known as a criminal. A professional footballer who threw it all away."
AFC Totton will play in the National League South after winning promotion from the Southern League where they played against Gosport Borough and Havant and Waterlooville last season.