A 20-year-old Peel man has been jailed for six years after admitting 10 drug offences.

Joshua Scott Quirk, who was 19 at the time of his crimes, was caught with 504 ecstasy tablets, 293 grams of cocaine and 1,784 grams of cannabis at his home in Corrin’s Way.

The drugs were found at his home, some hidden inside rubber dinghies, and Quirk said that he was told to leave his house unlocked and they would be collected while he was out.

Deemster Alistair Montgomerie said while passing sentence: ’Class A drugs destroy lives, they destroy communities. The message just doesn’t seem to get out that people who traffic in class A drugs will go to prison for a very long time.’

Earlier, prosecutor James Robinson told the court how, on July 3, a suspicious package was intercepted at the Isle of Man Post Office addressed to Quirk at Corrin’s Way.

When opened the package was found to contain 999 Xanax tablets. Class C prescription drug Xanax is a benzodiazapene, used to treat anxiety.

The tablets were removed and the empty package was delivered to Quirk.

On July 4, a search warrant was executed at his house with Quirk present. The package was found and had been opened.

Further packages were found inside rubber dinghies and a total of 293.6 grams of cocaine said to be worth between £14,680 and £20,552, 504 ecstasy tablets worth between £5,045 and £7,567.50, and 1,784 grams of cannabis worth £35,696, was seized. Also found was £2,671.68 in cash.

When interviewed by police, Quirk handed in a prepared statement admitting having a cannabis habit, using about four ounces per month.

He failed to given any account relating to the packages or explanation for the cash.

Quirk pleaded guilty to two counts of production of class A drugs to the island, two of possession of class A drugs with intent to supply, one of production of a class B drug, one of possession of class B drugs with intent to supply, one of possession of class B drugs, one of production of a class C drug, one of attempting to possess a class C drug, and one of possessing criminal property.

Quirk entered a basis of plea which was accepted by the prosecution, saying that his only involvement was having the packages delivered to him and that he made no financial gain from it, but was given cannabis for personal use.

He said that the arrangement had only lasted around two months, that he had only agreed to receive cannabis, and was not aware the packages contained other drugs.

Quirk’s advocate Andrew Marshall handed in 18 character references for his client, including one from motorcycle champion Steve Colley.

Mr Marshall asked the court to bear in mind Quirk’s ’age and naivety’ and said: ’It is my submission a very lengthy sentence is likely to do more harm than good. He didn’t receive any financial gain. He received an amount of cannabis for his troubles. He was only involved to fund his drug habit.

’He developed a habit following an unfortunate series of events involving his family which took a toll on him. It began as an escape mechanism.

’He changed his mind. He informed the dealer he didn’t want to proceed but then changed his mind again after threats were made and proceeded.

’The arrangement had been in place for approximately two months. He told probation that he was told not to open the packages, but to leave his house unlocked and the packages would be collected, with some cannabis left for him.

’He had no knowledge of the types of drugs. He was horrified when told what was found. He didn’t believe police and became abusive.

’It’s another example of a young person being exploited by a drug dealer.’

References described Quirk as a ’kind, caring young man’.

Deemster Alistair Montgomerie described Quirk’s offence as a ’catastrophic error of judgement’ and said: ’You were trafficking in a number of different types of controlled drugs, two of them class A.

’You used the postal system putting others at risk. You have no previous convictions. It is very regrettable you have started so high. You have committed such serious drug offences you have left me very little room for manoeuvre.’

Quirk was sentenced to six years jail for each offence of production of class A drugs, six years for each offence of possession of class A drugs with intent to supply, 10 months for production of class B drugs, 10 months for production of class B drugs with intent to supply, one month for possession of class B drugs, one month for production of class C drugs, one month for possession of class C drugs with intent to supply, and three months for possessing criminal property, all to run concurrently.