Suspended sentence for man who tried to send cash in teddy bear

38-year-old admits attempting to remove criminal property

Report by BBC Isle of Man

A man who tried to send £3,200 of criminal cash out of the Isle of Man, hidden in a child's teddy bear, has been sentenced.

Christopher Cowin, 38, took the money to a parcel courier firm in a box covered in children's wrapping paper, that also contained two books, in June.

Douglas Courthouse heard staff at the firm became suspicious because of his keenness to have a tracking number for the parcel and reported it.

He was sentenced to five months in prison, suspended for 12 months, along with a supervision order for the same period.

The court heard Cowin, of Peel Road in Douglas, had taken the parcel to the FCX depot at Ronaldsway Airport shortly before 3pm on 11 June.

He told the counter staff he needed the box sent to the UK as soon as possible and wanted it to be tracked.

While he gave them his own personal details for the tracking, and could tell them the recipient's address, he could not give them a corresponding telephone number.

The court heard staff noted the light weight of the box, which had an envelope taped to the top of it, after Cowin said it contained teddy bears, books and toys.

Staff became more suspicious because he was very insistent on getting the tracking number for it and reported their concerns.

When the box was opened it was found to contain two children's books and the teddy bear which looked like it had the stitching on the bottom of it tampered with.

The cash was found in a heat-sealed parcel inside the stuffed toy, the court was told.

Cowin was arrested at his home the following day and while he offered no comment during his police interview, he later pleaded guilty to attempting to remove criminal property from the Island.

His defence advocate said, although his actions had a financial motivation, it was to help pay debts accrued due to being unable to work through ill health and having to rely on benefits.

Deemster Graeme Cook said while the offence had passed the custody threshold, the sentence was capable of being suspended.

He also ordered Cowin to pay £125 in prosecution costs.