Jersey Unreported Judgments

[2009]JRC113

ROYAL COURT

(Samedi Division)

8^th June 2009

The Attorney General

-v-

Carl Rodrigues De Franca

Sentencing by the Superior Number of the Royal Court, to which the accused was remanded by the Inferior Number on 1^st June 2009, following a guilty plea to the following charges:

Age:  23.

Plea: Guilty.

Details of Offence:

On 10^th February, 2009, Police Officers executed a warrant at De Franca's home in St Helier.  De Franca was asleep on the sofa and was detained for the purpose of the search.  Needles and citric acid sachets were found, together with paraphernalia associated with the supply of heroin and £40 in cash.  A silver paper wrap was then located in the tape deck of a stereo in the lounge.  When opened this was found to contain 9 wraps of heroin, containing a total of 218 milligrams of the drug.  The heroin seized has a street value of £450.

Just before the Officers were about to leave the premises, two Portuguese males arrived, one was in possession of £100 in cash and the other was in possession of a "fit pack", commonly carried by heroin users.  De Franca was further arrested for the possession of heroin with intent to supply.

In a third and final interview he eventually admitted that the heroin had actually been given to him by a dealer to sell as what he called "6/4".  He explained that this meant that he was given enough heroin to make ten deals and that he had to sell six and he could keep four for his own habit.  He admitted that he had bagged the ten wraps up himself and that he would have sold them for £50 per bag.  He said that he would have given the dealer £300 after selling the wraps, and admitted that this was the second time that he had done this for his dealer. 

Details of Mitigation:

Guilty plea, ultimately co-operative, wrote own Indictment on count 3.

Previous Convictions:

Fairly lengthy record. Recent conviction for simple possession of cannabis.

Conclusions:

Total:  3 years' imprisonment.

Forfeiture and destruction of drugs sought.

Confiscation order in the sum of £40 sought.

Sentence and Observations of Court:

Total:  312 hours' community service order (equivalent to 2½ years' imprisonment) and 18 months' probation with treatment order.

Forfeiture and destruction of drugs ordered.

Confiscation order in the sum of £40.

R. C. P. Pedley, Esq., Crown Advocate.

Advocate I. C. Jones for the Defendant.

JUDGMENT

THE commissioner:

1.        The defendant has admitted supplying 6 wraps of heroin to finance his own heroin habit and to supplying a similar quantity in the past.  The Crown calculates that the amount of heroin involved was 300 grams which is below the first band in the Rimmer Guidelines. 

2.        The defendant had an unhappy traumatised childhood.  His father was deported from Jersey before he was born and his mother died when he was five.  A troubled and disruptive childhood led to him being poorly educated with limited employment prospects and he was drawn to a deviant lifestyle.  He has had a serious alcohol problem and a heavy cannabis problem in the past.  He has a significant record, with his offending behaviour, however, changing in nature from being anger and alcohol and motor- related to involving drugs.  He has one previous conviction for the possession of cannabis and this is the first time he has been before the Royal Court.  He started experimenting with heroin about 1½ years ago and soon became hooked. 

3.        Given the defendants admitted involvement in trafficking at street level, the Crown submit it would be proper to deduct 1 year from the minimum level of the first band in Rimmer and invite the Court to adopt a starting point of 6 years.  The probation department recommend an 18 month probation period coupled with a treatment order as recommended by Mr Gafoor and a lengthy period of community service to recompense for the defendants actions.  We accept the Crown's starting point as being correct. 

4.        In terms of mitigation you have pleaded guilty.  You wrote your own Indictment in respect of the third count, you are still young and you have shown remorse.  We have read your letter carefully and are impressed by it and, indeed, we have read the other letters and references and we see that you have in Court the support of your grandmother and her sister.

5.        We have considered very carefully your counsel's submission that, taking into account the equivalent sentence of 6 months' imprisonment that you have already served, the Court should take advantage of the recommendation of the Drugs and Alcohol Service that you undertake a treatment order on the basis of probation and a substantial period of community service.  Community service is not a soft option as some seem to think.  It will involve you in unpaid work for the benefit of the community, work which will have to be undertaken.  It is a direct alternative to a sentence of imprisonment.  In many ways community service is the more risky option for you, in that if we were to sentence you to community service it would have to be a substantial number of hours and if you fail to complete that community service or if you are in breach of the probation order or the treatment order in any way, you will find yourself back before this Court where you will almost certainly be sentenced to imprisonment.

6.        We have had regard to the level of your involvement in the drugs trade, and we do regard you to be at the lower end, and we have also had regard to the small quantities of the drug involved.  The matter is, however, very finely balanced and the Court was divided on the issue.  However, by a majority, the Court has decided that in the light of your youth and remorse and in the light of your very difficult background and the progress you have undoubtedly made in prison, we are going to give you that chance.

7.        On count 1; 180 hours' community service which is the equivalent of 12 months' imprisonment, you will be sentenced to probation for 18 months on condition that you comply with the directions of the probation office and in particular that you complete a treatment order with the Alcohol and drugs service.  On count 2 you will serve 312 hours' community service which is the equivalent of 2 years' imprisonment, which takes into account the time you have already served in prison, the sentence which we would have imposed upon you being 2½ years.  You will also be sentenced to 18 months' probation on the same terms, concurrent.  On count 3 you will serve 240 hours' community service which is the equivalent of 18 months' imprisonment, which again takes into account the time that you have served in prison already.  The sentence which we would have imposed on count 3 being 2 years.  You will also be sentenced to probation of 18 months on the same terms, concurrent.  That makes a total sentence of 312 hours' community service which is the equivalent of 2 years' imprisonment and probation for 18 months together with a treatment order.

8.        We order the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs.

9.        The Court declares that the defendant has benefited from drug trafficking to the extent of £640 and it makes a confiscation order in the sum of £40.

Authorities

Rimmer and Others [2001] JLR 373.