They were hard-working, family men and some even operated successful businesses.

Yet they were willing to place all of that on the line to make a quick buck. It would be a decision they will regret for the rest of their lives.

John Skillen owned his own fishing boat; Ashley Harrison ran a farm and Jordan Corkill had been a fisherman since he was 16 years old.

Jordan Halligan-Bunce was barely out of his teens when he was sucked into the operation to bring more than £300,000 worth of cannabis into the Isle of Man.

Only operation leader Jamie Smith could be deemed any kind of career criminal. His descent into drug abuse led him to getting involved in criminal gangs in Merseyside.

Last Wednesday all but Halligan-Bunce were led away to the cells to begin fairly lengthy sentences after appearing at the Court of General Gaol Delivery. Those who had businesses will have lost them and they all face picking up the pieces on their release.

The only comfort for the men in the dock was the fact their families were standing by them with a large number in the public gallery offering support.

The operation to bring in 15.5kg of cannabis and 100 vapes laced with a cannabis derivative took weeks of planning.

Smith had been in contact with Skillen for five weeks before the bid to struggle the drugs from Whitehaven to the island took place on November 17, 2023.

He offered John Skillen – the owner of the vessel Boy Shayne - £2,000 to use the boat to pick up the drugs from the Cumbrian town.

Rather than sail the vessel himself, Skillen asked his captain Jordan Corkill to skipper the boat.

The plan was to sail back to Laxey bay where the rigid inflatable boat (RIB) – owned by Ashley Harrison – would be used to bring the drugs into a cove. Harrison recruited Halligan-Bunce to drive the RIB.

However, it was at this point the whole plan began to falter.

Once Halligan-Bunce realised he was part of a drug smuggling operation, he was not happy. Whether in panic of bravery, he ran the RIB aground in Castletown.

He had pleaded not guilty to producing cannabis, but the jury took a dim view of his part in the operation and felt he should have suspected sooner what was going on sooner.

However, Acting Deemster Bernard Richmond was more sympathetic even if he did call Halligan-Bunce an ‘idiot’ for getting drawn in by Harrison.

He told Halligan-Bunce: ‘You are an idiot. Hero worship should only be saved for special people, with respect, Superman he ain’t.’

Halligan-Bunce’s actions forced a change of plan and the Boy Shayne was sailed into the Battery Pier in Douglas.

But unbeknown to the men, police were already on their trail and officers from the Serious and Organised Crime Unit were waiting for them.

At around 9.45pm, as the Boy Shayne into the outer harbour and moored alongside Battery Pier, officers saw Skillen arrive in his vehicle and take a holdall from one of the crew members.

Police swooped in and arrested the men. The holdall was seized and later found to contain approximately 15.5kg of cannabis with an estimated street value of £310,000. It also contained 98 cannabis vapes with a street value more than £3,000.

* Smith, 37, of Ballacutchel Road, Douglas, was deemed the senior player and main organiser and previously admitted two counts of importing cannabis to the island. He had not long got out of jail after committing similar offences. He was jailed for a total of five years.

* Skillen, 44, of Archallagan Terrace in Foxdale, previously admitted two counts of possession of cannabis with intent to supply and two of being concerned in the production of the drug. He was jailed for a total of three years and nine months.

* Corkill, 27, of Kerroo Coar, Peel, previously admitted importing cannabis and being concern in its supply. He was jailed for three years and six months.

* Harrison, 36, of Kerrowmoar, Sulby previously admitted two counts of importing cannabis. He was jailed for three years and 11 months.

* The role of Halligan-Bunce, 21, of Bromet Road, Castletown, was deemed a much lesser one. He was handed a 21-month prison sentence suspended for two years having previously been found guilty at trial of producing cannabis.

What came out in the mitigation is that Skillen, Corkill and Harrison had a lot to lose yet Skillen was paid just £2,000 and Corkill just a couple of hundred quid.

Harrison was also only paid pittance and hoped lending his RIB would lead him to being able to sell it.

Only Smith stood to gain a significant sum from the scheme. But, now, all of them are paying a huge price.

‘I am not going to sentence you all with thunder and damnation and rip you to shreds,’ Acting Deemster Richmond told the men. ‘Your families are now going to bear the consequences of your actions.’

He said of Skillen: ‘You are a hard-working man who had every reason to be grateful and it is a tragedy you have sacrificed that.’

He expressed similar sentiments when sentencing Corkill, saying: ‘You are a hard-working man with a family you can be proud of. You have been a responsible member of the community until now.’

But the police hope the price they are paying will send out a strong message to anyone else considering earning easy money through crime.

Detective Inspector Jamie Tomlinson from the Serious and Organised Crime Unit said: ‘As can be seen from the facts of this case, this was a very well-planned criminal enterprise utilising vessels at sea and it shows the lengths our criminals are willing to go to in order to bring drugs into our island and to evade capture.

‘I am pleased to say that yet again the courts have seen fit to impose sentences which reflect the seriousness, planning and sophistication of this importation.

‘This is further significant disruption to organised crime groups operating between the North West and the Isle of Man, which has already seen heroin and cocaine seized, along with arrests and lengthy jail terms.’