"Rip up Thailand, bring back the dough, buy a Porsche... hopefully don't get flagged": The criminal plan that didn't quite work out

A drug runner boasted he was going to 'rip up Thailand' and 'get a Porsche' before trying to smuggle nearly £100,000-worth of cannabis through Manchester Airport. But Kieran Brooks, 28, was left shaking when customs officers told him they'd seized his suitcase, which contained almost 25kg of the drug.

Brooks had been on a trip to the south east Asian country, with his flights and hotel paid for by a drug trafficker following a deal to bring back the contraband.

It was he would be paid £8,000 - on top of his Thailand holiday - for smuggling the drugs, Manchester Crown Court was told. On August 1 this year, Brooks landed back in the UK and began making enquiries with baggage officers about the case, which he had checked in.

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He soon found out it had been seized by suspicious customs officials at Manchester Airport. Brooks was said to have been 'visibly shaking' as he confirmed the case, which was loosely wrapped in cellophane - and had his name on the tag - was his.

Several packages of cannabis worth £94,240 was found. After being arrested, Brooks told officers in a prepared statement it was his case, but he was 'unaware of its contents'.

He claimed a person called 'Josh' gave it him and that he felt 'pressured to take it'. His phone was later analysed. In messages, Brooks said he was going to 'rip up Thailand, bring back the dough, buy a Porsche, and hopefully don't get flagged' David Toal, prosecuting said.

The messages were sent 'when he was travelling out to Thailand and shortly before his arrest', Mr Toal said, adding: "The defendant played a significant role, expecting a significant financial or other advantage."

Brooks, of Larch Avenue, Shirebrook, Derbyshire, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to the importation of cannabis. The court heard he had a dissimilar previous conviction, committed as a child.

He suffers with 'anxiety and personality disorder problems', which a psychiatric specialist noted in a report 'to some extent reduce his culpability'. Judge John Potter told Brooks: "You knew what you were doing was illegal, but you decided to take the risk. In interview, you didn't tell the truth.

"The truth is you became involved in this enterprise by your own choice, and did so expecting to receive significant financial gain, some £8,000 in addition to the flights and hotel expenses."

Mr Potter said Brooks had 'performed a limited role under the direction of others' and had spent the equivalent of an eight-month sentence in prison.

He said: "Taking into account the lack of previous convictions, the prospect of rehabilitation, mitigation in relation to mental health difficulties, and your guilty plea, I am satisfied that this sentence can be suspended."

Brooks was sentenced to a year and three months in prison, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to carry out 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days and complete 240 hours of unpaid work.