Jersey Unreported Judgments

[2010]JRC056

ROYAL COURT

(Samedi Division)

19^th March 2010

The Attorney General

-v-

Andrej Joseph Sokolowski

Sentencing by the Inferior Number of the Royal Court, following a guilty plea to the following charge:

Age:  53.

Plea: Guilty.

Details of Offence:

On 5^th November, 2009 Customs Officers on duty at the Elizabeth Terminal stopped a green Rover, driven by the defendant.  Sokolowski clearly spoke very little English, but handed the officers a piece of paper on which was written "I heve drive to the work, to weld (telephone number).  "This number was, he said, that of a friend of his who had promised him welding work in Jersey.  When officers called the number, the person who answered knew nothing about it.

The rear passenger door panel was removed and a brown tape wrapped parcel was discovered inside.  The parcel contained 779.61 grams of amphetamine sulphate.  This is a commercial quantity of the drug and would be worth up to £25,800.

Sokolowski was interviewed with an interpreter present, and admitted that he knew that drugs were concealed in the car but that he did not know what they were or where they were.  The drugs were put in his car in Warsaw with his knowledge and he was to have been contacted in Jersey, given £1,400 and two cars as payment.  Two friends of his who had travelled as foot passengers on the same ferry were to have driven the other vehicles back to Poland. 

Details of Mitigation:

Guilty plea, remorse, first drug-related offence.

Previous Convictions:

Several, fraud and burglary, but nothing drug-related. 

Conclusions:

Starting point 4 years' imprisonment.

Forfeiture and destruction of drugs sought.

Recommendation for deportation made.

Sentence and Observations of Court:

Conclusions granted.

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

Advocate C. R. Baglin for the Defendant.

JUDGMENT

THE DEPUTY BAILIFF:

1.        Mr Sokolowski, you have pleaded guilty to a charge of being knowingly concerned in importing amphetamine sulphate.  This was a deliberate importation in the rear door panel of the passenger side of your car of a Class B drug for financial gain.  The amount of that gain is said to be approximately £1,400.  The amount of drugs involved was nearly 780 grams carrying a street value of nearly £26,000. 

2.        The Crown has asked us to adopt a starting point of 4 years; that means the sentence that we would impose if there were no mitigation at all.  Having regard to your deliberate participation in the importation of this amount of Class B drug for financial gain, the Court thinks that the 4 year starting point is right. 

3.        We are pleased to note that you are sorry for the offence which you have committed and that you are remorseful.  The Court is also pleased to note that you now accept, from what you have seen in prison, that the importation of drugs is not a victimless crime and when you come out of custody and return to Poland, you can take with you the message that the Courts in Jersey will deal severely with people who import drugs into our Island. 

4.        You have accepted your guilt from the beginning and that stands very much to your credit; despite the fact that there was a strong case against you, we give you full credit for the guilty plea.  There is no mitigation for your age or for your good character, as we have seen from your record but we have noted this is your first drugs offence and we hope very much it will be your last drugs offence. 

5.        In the circumstances we think the Crown's conclusions of 2 years' imprisonment are correct and the sentence of this Court is that you should be sentenced accordingly to 2 years' imprisonment for this offence. 

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

7.        When you are released after serving your sentence, we also order your deportation from the Island in accordance with the conclusions of the Crown.

Authorities

Campbell-v-AG [1995] JLR 136.

AG-v-Jones [2008] JRC 186.

AG-v-Niedzwiecki and Szmigielski [2007] JRC 133.