Drug-smuggling footballer 'deserves second chance'

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas served 10 months of a four-year sentence in prison

Footballer Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, who was jailed for drug smuggling last month but signed for a new club on Tuesday, deserves a second chance, his manager said.

The former Arsenal striker signed for Hampshire side AFC Totton after serving 10 months of a four-year sentence for importing £600,000 worth of cannabis.

Jimmy Ball, who manages the National League South side, said it was "comfortable" with offering Emmanuel-Thomas a "second chance to put his life back on track and put his football career back on track".

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said Emmanuel-Thomas, who served about eight and a half months on remand ahead of his sentencing, was subject to "strict" licence conditions.

"We spoke to Jay, we spoke to his representatives and people who have been through a lot with him," Ball told BBC Radio Solent.

"We were happy to give a boy a second chance, if you like, or any chance, after obviously making some mistakes in his life.

"But you shouldn't be punished forever and we feel that football saves lives, football is a great thing for people to hang onto and we felt it was right to give somebody a chance."

Emmanuel-Thomas made his debut for AFC Totton in a pre-season victory over Weymouth FC on Tuesday.

He was sacked by Scottish club Greenock Morton after his arrest for importing the class B drug into London Stansted Airport from Thailand in September.

The former England youth player also played for Ipswich Town, Bristol City, QPR, MK Dons, Gillingham, Aberdeen, Livingston and Thailand's PTT Rayong.

Some people on social media had accused AFC Totton of a "lack of class" but Ball disagreed.

"Who defines what class is? Is forgiveness class? Should people be punished forever? He served his punishment and he now should be allowed to continue with his life and be given a second chance," he continued.

"I guess people can write what they want. We're comfortable as a football club with Jay and comfortable with the decision we made to offer a young man a second chance to put his life back on track and put his football career back on track.

"We can live with that and we're happy with the decision we made."

Alex Rose, who represented Emmanuel-Thomas at his sentencing at Chelmsford Crown Court, said he "succumbed to temptation and a catastrophic error of judgement".

Mr Rose said the footballer had suffered from the "absolutely seismic shock that taking responsibility for something like this brings".