Jersey Unreported Judgments

[2007]JRC123

ROYAL COURT

(Samedi Division)

22^nd June 2007

The Attorney General

-v-

Jermaine Jonathon Bailey

Sentencing by the Inferior Number of the Royal Court following guilty pleas to the following charges:

Age:  26.

Plea: Guilty.

Details of Offence:

Count 1: Defendant invited into the victim's home and stole the mobile phone from the premises in order to satisfy a debt allegedly owed to the Defendant by the victim.

Counts 2-5: Receiving stolen goods namely various electrical items.  Items forming the basis of Counts 2-4 were goods from house break-ins in the Hansford Lane area.  Count 5 relates to a mobile phone stolen from St James' Winebar.  Bailey states that all items were bought from individuals who he was unwilling/unable to name.  Gave inconsistent statements as to how he came by the goods.

Details of Mitigation:

Early guilty plea.  Relative youth on his side (turned 26 the month prior to sentencing).  Burglaries were not serious in nature, the trauma to the victims was relatively minor and the Defendant played no part in the actual break-ins.  Bailey is naïve, and the offences were mainly down to this and behaviour learned whilst a youth - in the community where Bailey grew up and with the individuals with whom he socialised in Birmingham, receiving stolen goods was commonplace.  Poor upbringing - was mainly cared for by his maternal grandmother and never knew his father.  Positive references and letter showing remorse.  Already spent 4 months on remand.  Had the support of his employer who was keeping Bailey's job open for him.

Previous Convictions:

15 previous convictions comprising of 20 offences, the majority for dishonesty related offences.

Conclusions:

Total: 12 months' probation supervision and 120 hours' Community Service Order, concurrent.

Sentence and Observations of Court:

Conclusions granted.  In each case the equivalent to 120 hours' Community Service being 6 months' imprisonment.

The Court commented that the Defendant had a very bad record for a young man and that it had been noted that he had little regard for the offence and his victims.  The Court said that he deserved to go to prison, but that they were not going to do that on this occasion (although they noted that in their opinion he had not been entirely truthful or co-operative).  The Court would make a Probation Order for the following reasons:

1. Bailey is still young and there is still a chance that he can turn his life around if he sets his mind to it;

2. Bailey has shown previous strength of character in beating his heroin addiction;

3. Bailey expressed his feelings of remorse very clearly to the Court in his letter and they are taking that at face value.

M. St. J O'Connell, Esq., Crown Advocate.

Advocate D. J. Hopwood for the Defendant.

JUDGMENT

THE BAILIFF:

1.        Bailey you have a very bad record for a young man and, as your Counsel has candidly admitted, you seem not to have shown any regard for the feelings of other people and, in short, you deserve to go to prison for the offences that you have committed.

2.        Now we are not going to do that and we want you to understand why we are not going to do that.  It is not because you were not entirely truthful with the Police, nor is it because you were not entirely co-operative with the Police by not answering some of their questions.  There are essentially three reasons.  The first is that you are still a young man and we think that there is a chance that you could turn your life around, or not waste it, as your Counsel has just said if you set your mind to the task and you want to do that.  The second reason is that you showed some strength of character in defeating your drug addiction and we think that if you show the same strength of character in relation to turning your life around that you are capable of succeeding.  And the third reason is that you have expressed your feelings very clearly to the Court in the letter that you have written, and expressed your regret for what has happened, and we are taking all that at face value and we believe you.

3.        So we are going to give you, what might be regarded as, a last chance and we are going to place you on probation for a period of 12 months.  We are going to order you to do 120 hours of Community Service in relation to each of those Counts, all to run concurrently, so that you will be placed on probation for 12 months, do 120 hours of Community Service, and the default period of imprisonment is 6 months if you do not complete the Community Service.  We hope very much that we do not see you again.  We want you to succeed and get on and live a decent and worthwhile life.

No Authorities