Street dealer boasted about making £800 a day

A drug dealer who boasted about making £800 a day by selling cocaine on the Isle of Man's streets has been jailed for seven years.

Louis Thomas was caught by undercover police officers during an August 2023 crackdown on drugs in Douglas's night-time economy.

The 27-year-old also tried to import £17,966 of cannabis through the post, and was additionally caught in a covert recording while arranging to sell drugs for another man in a hotel room.

Passing sentence at Douglas Courthouse, Deemster Graeme Cook said drugs brought "misery" to many families and individuals on the island.

The court heard Thomas had been introduced to undercover police officers during Operation Nightjar and had sold them individual wraps of cocaine on three occasions between 18 and 26 August 2023.

He was also implicated in drug dealing between October and November the same year when police reviewed recordings made in another man's hotel room, which had been bugged.

In the audio files Thomas was instructed to break down about 3lb (1.35kg) of cocaine into smaller deals.

The court heard Thomas was also heard bragging about making up to £800 a day while selling the Class A drug.

After failing to appear in court for the Nightjar offences, Thomas then attempted to collect a parcel containing a large quantity of cannabis that had been intercepted at Braddan sorting office in February 2024.

Thomas's advocate said his client had been a "useful idiot" who had been "sent up effectively as cannon fodder" to collect the parcel for someone else.

He said the 27-year-old's claims of making large sums of money were "bragging and could well have been exaggerating", adding: "He made an incredibly stupid mistake for no real benefit to himself."

"He is fronting up to the situation now," he added.

Prosecutors said Thomas was a "very trusted foot soldier" for a larger drug dealer and was "certainly not at the bottom of the supply chain".

Deemster Cook concluded that Thomas had "had a good time selling misery on the streets" and that "the sooner we get people like you out, the sooner the island will become a safer place".

Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.