Two men have been convicted of their involvement in the shipment of almost 1kg of cocaine to the Isle of Man.

Adrian Larcombe and John Laird were found guilty by a jury following a three-day trial at the Court of General Gaol Delivery.

They have been remanded in custody until they are sentenced on November 27.

The two were jointly charged with being concerned in the production of Class A drugs to the island from the UK.

A third man, Mark Thone, has previously pleaded guilty to the joint offence.

Prosecutor Hazel Carroon told the jury that a block of cocaine was shipped to the island in September 2023 in a package containing a mini-fridge.

It was sent to an address in Laxey.

The parcel was intercepted by police and found to contain 994.9 grams of cocaine, valued by police at £99,490.

Ms Carroon said the prosecution case was that the defendants were the UK side of the production and had been involved in arranging for the cocaine to be sent over to the Isle of Man.

She said Larcombe’s fingerprints were found on the fridge box and the plastic wrapper which surrounded it.

CCTV of the parcel being dropped-off at the courier company’s depot in Skelmersdale was obtained and this showed Thone handing the parcel over at the reception desk.

The Mercedes car driven into the depot was registered to Laird.

Automatic Numberplate Recognition data showed that the vehicle started a journey that day in the area of Larcombe’s home address in Nottingham, then going to a B&M store in the city from where the mini-fridge was purchased, before making the journey up to the depot in Skelmersdale.

When the vehicle was checked-in at the security gate at 14.47pm the name Mark T was given with the company name of Aluminium Processing Limited, the jury was told.

Subsequent inquiries revealed that Laird was recorded as a director of the Nottingham-based company and when his property was searched, a bank card in the name of Aluminium Processing and Mr John Laird was found.

The defendants were arrested in the UK and taken to the Isle of Man to be interviewed.

Larcombe, 59, of Godfrey Street in Netherfield, Nottingham, initially gave no comment replies but at one point stated ‘it’s nothing to do with me’.

At the end of his second interview he provided a prepared statement in which he said he had been contacted by his friend Mark Thone about where he could purchase a small fridge. He said he had no knowledge of the drugs and they were nothing to do with him.

Laird, 36, of Moor Lane, Nottingham, also produced a prepared statement claiming he was not told what was in the parcel, and did not know or suspect there were drugs inside.