A Derby cocaine courier, convicted yesterday of smuggling over £300,000 worth of the drug from the Caribbean, has been jailed for eight years.
Simon Brown, 38, of Osmaston Park Road was unanimously found guilty by a Croydon Crown Court (pictured) jury of importing 1.86 kilos of 100% pure cocaine at Gatwick Airport on January 9, last year.
"Here you are, back before the crown court yet again, this time for the most serious offence of all," the Recorder of Croydon, Judge Warwick McKinnon told Brown.
"You have an unenviable record. You do not lead a law-abiding life, you are a lawless individual," added the judge, after hearing the defendant has multiple convictions, which include the supply of ecstasy and cocaine in Derby.
"You did not think twice about going out on this drug-running trip. You went there in order to bring drugs back and you brought back a significant quantity.
"I am satisfied by your text messages that you were dealing in drugs. It is obvious you were dealing in drugs, but to what extent is unclear.
"You were more than a mere courier. I saw and heard from you in the witness box, you are very much your own individual."
Brown had just stepped off a flight from Antigua, where he claimed to have merely enjoyed an innocent ten-day holiday, when stopped by the UK Border Agency.
They found four packages containing cocaine hidden inside the lining of his suit carrier.
Brown insisted he knew nothing about the drugs and had been given the bag by a friend of his cousin's, who he knew only as 'Don', shortly before flying home.
Incriminating text messages, suggesting cocaine-dealing, were found on Brown's phone, but the powerfully-built defendant tried to convince the jury he was referring to body-building drugs.
"You are not an unintelligent man and I place you in the category of playing a significant role in this importation," added Judge McKinnon.
"Whether or not you were going to sell all the cocaine or whether you are a retailer or wholesaler, whichever way you analyse it I do not regard you as a traditional courier."
Brown was also made subject to a Travel Restriction Order, which prohibits foreign travel for four years after his day of release.
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