A former boxer who represented his country was caught with over €2m of cannabis on a Dublin industrial estate. Jamie Stalker was a highly skilled amateur boxer who fought out of the distinguished St Aloysius Club in Huyton – but following difficulties with his own drug use was pulled into a criminal conspiracy.
The involvement of the 37-year-old, of Liverpool Road in Huyton, was revealed after an undercover police operation saw him and co-conspirator Niall Maher take shipment of the “very significant haul” of cannabis. Appearing before Dublin’s central criminal court last week, a judge told the men they were “small cogs” in a much larger plot.
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The conspiracy relates to the interception of a pallet of bedding which customs officials found contained cannabis when they unloaded it from a flight that arrived from Toronto in Canada. Irish newspaper the Sunday World reported there was a noticeable smell of drugs from the pallet and a delivery address listed in a west Dublin industrial state was found to be fictitious.
An undercover officer from Garda Síochána, Ireland’s national police force, called the telephone number included in the documents and spoke to a man, later identified as Maher, who said he was still at the address and asked where they were. Police arranged a controlled delivery and when officers arrived a white van pulled up beside their vehicle.
The police helped move the pallet into the back of the van, being driven by Maher, before a surveillance probe followed him to a different industrial park. Maher then met Stalker, who was on foot, and the pair went to the back of the van. It was at this point that police officers intervened and arrested the men. Officers found 104kg of cannabis valued at just over €2m.
Stalker’s charge sheet, seen by the ECHO, said: “On the 24th of May 2024 at Canal Walk, Park West industrial estate, Dublin…did have in your possession one or more controlled drugs, namely cannabis, for the purpose of selling or otherwise supply the drug to another in contravention of the misuse of drugs regulations.”
The Sunday World reported that Stalker had travelled from Merseyside to meet the consignment of drugs after a car ferry ticket was found on him. When the men’s phones were analysed, evidence was found they were under the directions of a third party.
Stalker’s role was to count the drugs while Maher had been tasked with moving the consignment from one location to another. Maher said in interview he became involved due to a drug debt and was under threat by “very dangerous people”.
It was also accepted in court that Stalker had difficulties with drugs and had amassed a €14,000 drug debt. Irish news reports said counsel for Stalker said he had suffered a psychotic episode in early 2023 and medical reports referred to his “on and off” use of cocaine, as well as his sporadic taking of his prescription medication.
Counsel for both men asked the court to take into account their guilty pleas, that they were low-level in the conspiracy and had expressed their remorse. The court heard since Stalker had been remanded in custody he had set up a boxing class for fellow inmates which he intended to continue.
Counsel for Maher “succumbed” to pressure due to threats and took, what he believed at the time, to be the less dangerous course of action. Both men pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled drug for the purpose of sale or supply.
Judge Elva Duffy said the amount of drugs was an aggravating factor and said the conspiracies “wouldn’t happen” without “small cogs”. The judge said the pair’s sentence would be backdated to the date both men went into custody. A spokesperson for the courts confirmed to the ECHO that the two men were jailed for five years, with the final 12-months suspended.
Stalker was a talented amateur fighter who represented his country and had aspirations of competing in the Beijing Olympics. However, he gave up the sport in 2009. He is the brother of former professional boxer Thomas Stalker who captained the British Olympic team at the 2012 London Olympics.
The court heard former world amateur number one Thomas Stalker, who carried the British flag at the Olympics, wrote a letter in support of his brother which was handed to the court.
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Huyton man Jamie Stalker was arrested after an undercover police operation followed the shipment that arrived from Toronto Read More
