These people decided to defy the law
Ley Wat and Jeng Chow(Image: GMP)
Airports, despite being stressful at times, are usually a place where people are looking forward to a holiday or returning home. Security is strict in airports and most holidaymakers adhere to the rules.
However, some people decide to defy the law, including the people listed below. They even found themselves before the courts because of what they did.
One couple’s alleged honeymoon ended with them behind bars, another woman tried to “smash her way through” John Lennon Airport when she was asked for a boarding pass and another woman was stopped at airport after what officers found in her luggage.
Below we have listed cases where people found themselves before the courts. It is not an exhaustive list, however we have taken a look at recent and prominent cases.
Ley Wat and Jeng Chow
Ley Wat and Jeng Chow(Image: GMP)
A couple who claimed they were jetting off for their honeymoon found themselves behind bars after their luggage was inspected at Manchester Airport. Jeng Chow, 30, and Ley Wat, 25, were enlisted to serve as drug couriers.
Their suitcases were later found to be crammed full of cannabis. The couple, believed to be engaged, journeyed to Manchester from their home country of Malaysia.
Wat was in debt and had connections with smugglers. They were handed drugs to transport and were promised money upon successful delivery, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Each of their suitcases contained 28 vacuum-sealed packages of cannabis. The drugs were valued at £99,000 at wholesale prices, but the street value would have been “much higher”,
However, the couple were apprehended upon arrival at Terminal 2. At a sentencing hearing at Minshull Street Crown Court earlier this week, the couple sat together and at one point, they shared an embrace and a kiss.
Wat informed officers she believed her suitcase held alcohol. Wat stated that she and Chow were in communication with a third party, who would collect the drugs at the airport in exchange for payment. Neither Chow nor Wat have prior criminal convictions.
Chow and Wat both pleaded guilty to one count of being concerned in the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on the importation of a class B drug.
They were both sentenced to a year and three months by judge Recorder Sarah Holt.
Kayleigh Lee
Kayleigh Lee outside Liverpool Magistrates’ Court(Image: Liverpool Echo)
A woman attempted to fly from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to the Czech Republic with a jar of cannabis and no plane ticket. Kayleigh Lee, 31, “lost her self control” and turned violent towards police, having been refused access to the security gate due to her having no boarding pass.
She warned airport staff that she would “smash her way through” to the departure lounge before kicking and pushing officers who were called in to deal with her rowdy behaviour. A judge told her back in May that her actions would have “caused real concern” for the holidaymakers who were forced to witness the alarming incident unfold.
Lee, of Samuel Street in St Helens, admitted four counts of assaulting an emergency services worker and possession of cannabis. Appearing in the dock wearing a black and white checked dress and glasses, she was handed an 18-month community order with a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 35 days.
She was also told to pay £200 in compensation, a £200 fine, a £114 victim surcharge and £85 in court costs. Sentencing, District Judge Paul Healey said: “You struggled with the police. They were assaulted. I think you lost self control, it seems. You were not deliberately punching or striking the police but lashing out, and you struck the police officers.
“The fact that it took place at an airport is an aggravating feature. Airports are places where there is heightened security, for obvious reasons. When people are trying to get about their business and see somebody acting in the way that you did, it causes real concern for other passengers.
“You put the airport staff and police in a difficult position that day. I have read about the immediate build up to your behaviour that day and why you say you wanted to get to the Czech Republic as quickly as you could, but it is a concerning incident.
“Having regard to your age and your lack of relevant convictions at this time, I will impose a community order. It is clear that there are issues that need to be addressed. If you continue to assault emergency workers, there will come a point when your liberty is very much at risk.”
Edward Nesbitt
Edward Nesbitt(Image: GMP)
A dad-of-two was arrested at Manchester Airport after being handed an “‘an offer he felt he could not refuse”. Edward Nesbitt was one of two drug couriers jailed back in May, along with Yoke Woon, after a suitcase stuffed with 23 kilos of cannabis was intercepted at the airport.
Manchester Crown Court heard how Yoke Woon, 43, an Uber driver from Malaysia, arrived with the drugs on a flight from Singapore in March. He left the suitcase on the luggage carousel in Terminal 2 where it was picked up by Nesbitt, a former boxer and dad-of-two from Northern Ireland, after he had arrived on a flight from Amsterdam.
When the suitcase was open by officials, inside it was 23 kilos of cannabis said to be worth £93,600. The two men were arrested and answered “no comment” to all questions during their police interviews.
The court heard Woon was able to walk out of Manchester Airport but was arrested when he returned on March 11 for a flight to Abu Dhabi.
Although Woon had never been in trouble with the law previously, Nesbitt had 13 sets of previous convictions for 27 offences in his native Northern Ireland. He was serving a suspended prison sentence by the time he got involved in the smuggling operation, the court heard.
Judge Hilary Manley told the pair they had “operated separately but in tandem” to import the cannabis as couriers. She told Woon his crime was “very much out of character” while she said Nesbitt had mental health problems including autism and learning difficulties.
Woon, of no fixed abode, was jailed for ten months while Nesbitt, of Sandown Park in Northern Ireland, was sentenced to 12 months in prison after each had earlier pleaded guilty to the fraudulent importation of class B drugs.
Danielle Shields
Danielle Shields was stopped by Jersey customs officers transferring proceeds of crime
A woman found with a bag of cash and £800 of JD Sports vouchers is believed to have been smuggling suspected drug money. Liverpool woman Danielle Shields flew in to Jersey on February 7 this year when she was stopped by customs officers.
The 43-year-old, who had £20 and her bank card, told officers she was staying at the luxurious Royal Yacht hotel. But the following day, travelling outbound to Liverpool, Shields was stopped again, with officers this time finding a huge haul of cash in her baggage.
As well as £2,336 in cash, she also had JD Sports gift vouchers to the value of £800, receipts for clothing and a Jersey Post receipt for an outbound package. She also admitted to internally concealing a further £1,360 and was also found wearing a new Tag Heuer watch.
Officers later retrieved the outbound package that Shields had the receipt for, which was found to contain an empty Tag Heuer box and a receipt for £2,100. During her police interview, she admitted to attempting to export the cash that she suspected to be the proceeds of crime, possibly from the sale of drugs.
Further investigations revealed Shields had travelled to the island of Jersey on 15 occasions since December 2023 and she admitted in further interview, to exporting cash on previous occasions.
Appearing before Jersey’s Royal Court in May, Shields said she had been paid to collect money from unnamed individuals in Jersey and take it back to the North West.
Lieutenant-bailiff Anthony Olsen said Shields was deemed a high risk of reoffending. He added: “These are very serious offences. You knew or strongly suspected that you were dealing with the proceeds of the sale of illegal drugs.” Shields was jailed for 21 months.