Soldier who went AWOL jailed for trafficking drugs to the Isle of Man

Brayford was a member of the Royal Logistics Corps and was absent without leave at the time of his arrest

A soldier who travelled to the Isle of Man by ferry with £284,000 of cannabis hidden in a van while being absent without leave has been jailed.

Jordan Brayford, of Stoke-on-Trent, abandoned the vehicle in a lane before going drinking on 27 January.

He was arrested the next day and police later found the drugs.

Jailing him for five years one month, Deemster Graeme Cook said the quantity meant the 29-year-old "must be close to those involved in organised crime".

Douglas Courthouse heard Brayford, who joined the Royal Logistics Corps in February 2022, had been due to return to his barracks on 3 January after a Christmas break but had failed to do so.

Brayford, from Whitridge Grove in Bentilee, travelled to the island in a Mercedes van on the afternoon ferry, but left the vehicle in Greeba to go drinking.

After spending the night at Ramsey Park Hotel, he went to the police station and told officers he could not remember where his van was.

He told them he had parked it after disembarking the boat and cycled to several pubs on a mountain bike, which he then gave away to a child while drunk.

Police systems showed he was absent from the Army and he was arrested.

'Catastrophic error'

The van was later found damaged and abandoned in a lane with the keys still in the ignition.

The court heard a search uncovered the cannabis in 30 separate vacuum-sealed bags in two concealed compartments in the van's floor.

The compartments were opened using a remote control which was found on Brayford.

He pleaded guilty to importing cannabis and possessing the drug with intent to supply.

His defence advocate said Brayford had made a "catastrophic error" in agreeing to drive the van to the island to help pay off a debt, but had not known how much cannabis was inside.

He added that Brayford's lifelong aspiration to serve in the Army had been "taken away by his own stupidity".

Sentencing him, Deemster Cook said Brayford had become involved in a "bizarre set of circumstances" and had been fortunate the drugs in the van had been class B, rather than class A.

Alongside the jail term, the deemster handed Brayford an exclusion order, banning him from returning to the island for five years after his release.