He flew into Manchester Airport from Bangkok, his head went then he hit a customs officer

Malachi Tulloch told officers: “I’m sorry, I was a c*** but I have my reasons”

A would-be drugs smuggler’s ‘head had gone’ when he hit a customs officer and tried to flee the airport after being caught.

Malachi Tulloch, 21, had returned back from a trip to Bangkok with £50,000 worth of cannabis stashed in his suitcase. He was stopped initially in Manchester Airport but broke free and made it to a taxi before he was apprehended again.

“He wasn’t thinking, his head had gone,” his barrister said. Prosecuting, Zahra Khan said that Tulloch arrived at the airport on February 18 on a flight from Bangkok. He collected his luggage, a medium-sized suitcase, before walking out of the baggage area through the green channel.

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He was asked to stop by a Border Force officer, but continued to walk on. Tulloch was stopped and ‘demanded’ to have a cigarette, despite knowing the airport was a no smoking area.

He put a cigarette to his mouth, and after one of the officers took it from him, Tulloch struck him in the face. Tulloch then tried to ‘make a run for it’, leaving the terminal building and making it as far as a taxi where he was apprehended, calling an officer a ‘fa****’.

“I’m sorry, I was a c*** but I have my reasons,” Tulloch told officers. The suitcase was found to contain 16.5 kilos of cannabis, said to be worth £50,000. Tulloch said that he hadn’t packed the suitcase himself, and didn’t know what was inside.

He refused to provide the PIN number to his mobile phone. Defending, Paul Becker said that Tolluch’s offending spoke of ‘desperation’.

“I know that the defendant is sorry for what he has done, he appreciates the seriousness of the situation,” Mr Becker said. “The defendant is sorry to the officer for his actions and his language. He wasn’t thinking, his head had gone,” his barrister said.

He said that Tulloch had spent three months in prison on remand since his return to the UK. Tullock had experienced a ‘difficult childhood’ and issues with mental health.

Sentencing, Recorder Sarah Holt told Tulloch: “It’s clear you have a lot of growing up to do.” She decided not to send Tulloch back to prison to spend further time behind bars, noting his age, ‘lack of maturity’ and prospects for rehabilitation.

Tulloch, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on the importation of cannabis, and assaulting a Revenue and Customs officer. He was sentenced to 22 months in prison, suspended for two years.

He must also complete 200 hours of unpaid work, 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days and was banned from travelling abroad for a year.