Jersey Unreported Judgments

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URL: http://www.bailii.org/je/cases/UR/2006/2006_125.html
Cite as: [2006] JRC 125

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[2006]JRC125

ROYAL COURT

(Samedi Division)

5^th September 2006

Before :

Sir Philip Bailhache, Kt., Bailiff, and Jurats Bullen, Le Breton, Georgelin, Clapham, King and Le Cornu..

The Attorney General

-v-

Tabitha Kim Vincent-De La Haye

Sentencing by the Superior Number of the Royal Court, to which the accused was remanded by the Inferior Number on 21st July, 2006, following a guilty plea to the following charges:

1 count of:	Being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of a controlled drug, contrary to Article 61(2)(b) of the Customs and Excise (General Provisions)(Jersey) Law 1999. (Ecstasy)(Count 1).
1 count of:	Possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply it to another, contrary to Article 8(2) of the Misuse of Drugs (Jersey) Law, 1978. (Lysergide)(Count 2).
1 count of:	Possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply it to another, contrary to Article 8(2) of the Misuse of Drugs (Jersey) Law, 1978. (Ecstasy)(Count 3).
1 count of:	Possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply it to another, contrary to Article 8(2) of the Misuse of Drugs (Jersey) Law, 1978. (Cannabis resin)(Count 4).

Age: 29

Plea: Guilty.

Details of Offence:

Defendant imported a total of 883 Ecstasy tablets by concealing them in hair gel, hair shampoo and a toy teddy bear. Some of the tablets had become damaged in the shampoo bottle and only 771 were marketable and hence the street value was given as £7,710 (approximately wholesale value between £4,626 and £6,168). During a search of the Defendant's home a half Ecstasy tablet, less than a gram of cannabis and a strip of Lysergide worth between £9 and £15 were found.

Details of Mitigation:

Guilty please, co-operation, remorse, vulnerable and fragile personality.

Previous Convictions:

None.

Conclusions:

Count 1:	3 years imprisonment..
Count 2:	2 weeks' imprisonment concurrent.
Count 3:	1 week imprisonment concurrent.
Count 4:	1 week imprisonment concurrent.

Forfeiture and destruction of the drugs.

Sentence and Observations of Court:

Conclusions granted.

S. Sharpe, Crown Advocate.

Advocate L. K. A. Richardson for Vincent-De La Haye.

JUDGMENT

THE BAILIFF:

1. This Defendant has pleaded guilty to the importation of 883 MDMA (Ecstasy) tablets valued at approximately £7,700 on the street. She was to have received a fee of £1,000 for carrying the drugs from England to Jersey. They were secreted in bottles and other containers when she was stopped at the port.

2. She is also to be sentenced for other, less serious, offences involving the possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use.

3. The Court has agonised over the question of whether the mitigating circumstances in this case are sufficiently strong and exceptional to enable a non-custodial sentence to be imposed. The Defendant is a first offender, she has pleaded guilty to the Indictment and the reports have set out a number of difficult circumstances in relation to her background. Counsel has placed before us a number of impressive references testifying to the good character of the Defendant before this offence was committed.

4. This was an offence, however, into which the Defendant went with her eyes open in the full knowledge of the likely consequences if she were to be caught. The consequences for other young people, had she succeeded and further class A drugs distributed in the night clubs, were not apparently in her thoughts.

5. The Court has reached the conclusion that the Crown Advocate's conclusions are correct and reflect a very generous allowance for the mitigating circumstances available to the Defendant. On count 1, Miss De La Haye, the Court sentences you to 3 years' imprisonment, on count 2 to 2 weeks' imprisonment, on count 3 to 1 week's imprisonment, on count 4 to 1 week's imprisonment. All those sentences will be concurrent making a total of 3 years' imprisonment and we order the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs.

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