(Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA)
A York man was caught trying to smuggle drugs worth up to £408,000 into the UK, the city’s magistrates heard.
Samson Wildwood, 40, had a suitcase full of cannabis with him when he flew into Heathrow Airport from Thailand, said Sarah Tyrer, prosecuting.
His solicitor Jatinder Panaser said: “This is a grave mistake he has made in his life, he says. He has shown remorse.”
Wildwood, of Fossway, York, pleaded guilty to smuggling cannabis. He has previous convictions for drug offences, but none for drug smuggling, and had been fined for possessing cocaine by York magistrates on March 30, less than two months before he was arrested at Heathrow.
York magistrates decided he should receive more than their maximum sentence of 12 months’ imprisonment for the cannabis smuggling. They sent him to York Crown Court for sentence and released him on bail until he is sentenced on September 8.
Wildwood has been banned from leaving the country since his first court appearance in May and has had to surrender his passport among other bail conditions.
Samson Wildwood had £408,000 of cannabis with him when he arrived at Heathrow
(Image: NQ)
Ms Tyrer said immigration officers stopped Wildwood for a routine check when he arrived at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 3 on May 23. He had travelled via Hong Kong.
He told them he had spent 10 days visiting a relative who ran a recruitment agency as he had been looking for work.
They passed him onto Customs, where he claimed his only luggage was the hand luggage he had with him, said Ms Tyrer.
But when officers checked with his airline, they were told he also had hold luggage, and going to the baggage reclaim belt, they found a black suitcase with his name on it.
Wildwood denied all knowledge of it.
“When the suitcase was opened in front of him, numerous vacuum packed packages were found which appeared to contain herbal green substance,” said Ms Tyrer.
Together the packages contained 13.6kg of cannabis with a street value of up to £408,000.
Wildwood declined to answer questions when interviewed, said Ms Tyrer.
He was sent in custody before Uxbridge magistrates on May 25. There he pleaded guilty and as he lived in York, magistrates transferred the case to his local court. They also granted him bail on conditions.
Ms Panaser said Wildwood’s mental state had been affected by his own drug taking when he tried to smuggle the cannabis into the country and that he needed help. He understood the seriousness of what he had done.
His mental health was “delicate and fragile” and he had shown willingness to engage with a local drug rehabilitation organisation and with probation. He had family support.
Wildwood lives on benefits. His previous convictions had mostly been committed when he was a youth, the court heard.