Couple jailed after £25K of cocaine is found in microwave

Deemster tells court: "There must be a message sent out" 

Two people from Douglas involved in importing almost £25,000 of cocaine to the Isle of Man – in a microwave – have been jailed.

Thomas James McBurnie and Kirsty Louise Quilliam were sent to prison today after being sentenced at Douglas Courthouse (22 June).

Both had admitted being concerned in the unlawful production of the Class A drug; Quilliam had also admitted supplying it to McBurnie.

Police arrested the duo on 6 August 2021 as part of ‘Operation Achilles’ – at 10.15am Quilliam had accepted a parcel containing a microwave at her home on Hillside Terrace.

Three hours later McBurnie, from Koinney Avenue, drove to her property to collect it having called into work sick earlier that day.

When police took the cooking device to bits they found 248.7 grams of cocaine which had a street value of £24,870.  

Interrogation of their phones showed 25-year-old McBurnie had been in contact with two other men before the parcel was delivered; Quilliam, who is 40, had also been messaging one of them via the social media platform Snapchat.

In interview McBurnie accepted going to pick-up the parcel but denied knowing there were drugs in it – a claim Deemster Graeme Cook described as ‘absolute rubbish’.

Article 8 Rights

Both advocates asked the deemster to take into account the Article 8 rights of their clients.

Quilliam’s advocate told the court the single mother, who was in fulltime employment at the time, was at the ‘lower end’ of the drug operation and didn’t know the type of drugs being sent.

“All the risk was with her,” David Reynolds said.

“It was very difficult for her to say goodbye to her daughter today without her daughter knowing why,” he added.

In response Deemster Cook told him: “It’s a mistake that clearly she’s going to have to live with for the rest of her life.

“Miss Quilliam’s case is sad – I accept that,” he added: “Frankly Miss Quilliam should have thought of that in the first place.”

McBurnie’s advocate argued that his client was ‘right at the periphery’ of the drug operation adding that his culpability was limited.

“He was going to collect the parcel and pass it to someone else – that’s it,” Paul Rogers added.

He said McBurnie who was out on licence at the time of the offence, after being released from prison, had had a ‘very challenging upbringing’ but was now a father to two children.

“He has acknowledged through his actions he will inevitably receive a custodial sentence,” Mr Rogers accepted.

Sentence

Deemster Cook told both defendants the starting point for sentencing was nine years.

Jailing Quilliam for five years and eight months he told her: “It is a sad case that your daughter is going to be deprived of you for a number of years. You should have thought of that.”

McBurnie was jailed for seven years and 10 months.

Sending both to prison he said drug trafficking was ‘something the Island wishes to extinguish completely or at least reduce dramatically’.

“There must be a message sent out,” Deemster Cook added: “It needs to stop.”