Liverpool man who sent cocaine through post jailed for almost 11 years

A man who sent cocaine and cannabis worth £31,000 to the Isle of Man through the post has been jailed for 10 years and eight months.

Paul Rowan, of Garston in Liverpool, sent two parcels containing the drugs to the Island in 2020.

Douglas Courthouse heard Rowan was identified through his fingerprints on the outside of the packages after they were seized at the sorting office.

He was also linked to phone calls inquiring about the parcels.

The court heard a package containing cocaine, with a street value of £5,460 and cannabis worth £19,698, was seized at the Braddan facility on 13 March 2020.

On 14 July a further £6,350 of cocaine was found in another parcel hidden inside an adapted book.

Forensic testing along with several phone calls to the sorting office from the same numbers, which purported to be from different people, linked the parcels back to the 34-year-old, the court heard.

The investigation led to the arrest of Rowan, of Darwall Road in Garston, in the UK in November last year and he was brought back to the Isle of Man to face the charges.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of importing cocaine and one of importing cannabis to the island.

Rowan's defence advocate said he had been the "one in danger" with "all the risk on his shoulders" after being threatened by people further up the chain.

Sentencing the 34-year-old, Deemster Graeme Cook said while in recent times he had become a "productive family man" he was linked to large quantities of drugs on two occasions.