Jersey Unreported Judgments

Inferior Number Sentencing - drugs - importation Class B - possession Class C - malicious damage - breach of the peace - grave and criminal assault.

[2015]JRC049A

Royal Court

(Samedi)

27 February 2015

Before     :

W. J. Bailhache, Bailiff, and Jurats Fisher and Nicolle

The Attorney General

-v-

Brandon Jules Emile Peter Dubois

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

First Indictment

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 (Jersey) Law 1999 (Count 15).
1 count of:	Possession of a controlled drug, contrary to Article 8(1) of the Misuse of Drugs (Jersey) Law 1978 (Count 20).

Second Indictment

1 count of:	Malicious damage (Count 1).
1 count of:	Conduct likely to cause the breach of the peace (Count 3).

Third Indictment

1 count of:

Conduct likely to cause the breach of the peace (Count 1).

Fourth Indictment

1 count of:

Grave and criminal assault (Count 1).

Age:  21.

Plea: Guilty.

Details of Offence:

First Indictment

On or around the 20^th March, 2013, the defendant was involved in the importation of a commercial amount of Class B drugs, methylethylcathinone, worth between £2,050 and £3,080.  The recovered text exchanges indicate that he was fully aware of what is going on, and that what he was doing was not legal.  The drugs were being sent to his former address (Count 15). 

On 10^th May, 2013, Customs Officers executing a search warrant arrested the defendant at a flat in Victoria Street.  During the search of the flat, 43 tablets were found, and on analysis they contained Methandienone (Count 20). 

Second Indictment

On 28^th April, 2014, the defendant had been in the Havana Club and was asked to leave by the manager as he was arguing with another patron.  He was intoxicated and made threatening and racist comments to the manager as he was escorted off the premises.  No charges arise from this incident.  Once outside CCTV shows him staggering and falling to the ground before walking off in the direction of Wests Centre with two others. 

Shortly afterwards he was outside the Mayfair Hotel, which is opposite his sister's then accommodation, on his own.  His shirt had, in the interim, been torn, but it is not known how.  There was an exchange between him and people in a hotel room on the first floor, resulting in him shouting and swearing at them. 

Third Indictment

On 17^th April, 2014, the defendant was collected by a taxi from Liberation Court, his sister's then address, at around 6am.  The driver agreed to take him to Les Cinq Chenes, his mother's home address. 

As they approached the estate the defendant asked the taxi driver to turn off the meter (which read £10:50 from the driver's memory) and he would pay him £12.  The driver said he could not turn the meter off.  The defendant became abusive.  He got out of the taxi at his mother's address and left £20 on the seat.  The driver gave him his change.  Once the door was shut the driver said the defendant spat on the window, and then started kicking the front passenger wing, causing damage. 

Police were called in relation to this incident and a further incident which took place at his mother's home address.  When they arrived they saw the defendant leaving the family home and heading for the estate entrance.  He was now bare-chested and appeared agitated.  The three officers reported him to be saying words to the effect of 'back the fuck off', and 'it will take more than you three to arrest me'.  Because of the Police's prior involvement with the defendant a police dog and handler were on the scene.  Their account is that he threatened to bite the dog's throat out if it came near him. 

Due to his demeanour he was arrested and taken to Rouge Bouillon Police Station. 

Officers at the scene reported that he seemed to be under the influence of drink or drugs, smelt of alcohol, had a glazed look and froth at the corners of his mouth. 

Fourth Indictment

On 19^th June, 2014, the defendant was socialising in St Helier with his half-brother.  After having been ejected from a nightclub, there was a melee outside the club, started by his half-brother.  The defendant initially moved away from the scene, but then returned to kick a man who was on the floor, and who was offering no violence to anyone. 

Details of Mitigation:

Guilty plea, youth. 

Previous Convictions:

The defendant has 5 previous convictions for 23 offences, including previous drug offences, breach of the peace by fighting and assault. 

Conclusions:

First Indictment

Count 15:	3 months' imprisonment.
Count 20:	1 month's imprisonment, concurrent to each other but consecutive to the Second, Third and Fourth Indictments.

Second Indictment

Count 1:	1 month's imprisonment.
Count 3:	1 month's imprisonment, concurrent.

Third Indictment

Count 1:

2 weeks' imprisonment, concurrent.

Fourth Indictment

Count 1:

15 months' imprisonment, concurrent.

Total: 18 months' imprisonment. 

Compensation Order sought in the sum of £703.87 in favour of the Taxi driver.

Forfeiture and destruction of the drugs sought.

Exclusion Order sought for a period of 12 months from the date of release excluding the defendant from 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 7^th category licensed premises excluding The Multiplex Cinema, the Jersey Arts Centre, the Ferry Terminal at Elizabeth Harbour, Jersey Airport and the Opera House. 

Sentence and Observations of Court:

The Court very much took into account that the defendant has been on remand for 8 months and sought to give the defendant a chance to turn his life around. 

First Indictment

Count 15:	A 12 month Probation Order.
Count 20:	A 12 month Probation Order.

Second Indictment

Count 1:	A 12 month Probation Order.
Count 3:	A 12 month Probation Order.

Third Indictment

Count 1:

A 12 month Probation Order.

Fourth Indictment

Count 1:

120 hours' Community Service Order, equivalent to 6 months' imprisonment, together with a 12 month Probation Order.

Total: 120 hours' Community Service Order, equivalent to 6 months' imprisonment, together with a 12 month Probation Order.

Compensation Order made in the sum of £703.87 in favour of the Taxi driver to be paid within 1 month or 3 months' imprisonment in default.

Forfeiture and destruction of the drugs ordered.

Exclusion Order made for a period of 18 months from the date of sentencing (27 February, 2015) excluding the defendant from 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 7^th category licensed premises excluding The Multiplex Cinema, the Jersey Arts Centre, the Ferry Terminal at Elizabeth Harbour, Jersey Airport and the Opera House. 

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

Advocate H. J. Heath for the Defendant.

JUDGMENT

THE BAILIFF:

1.        You are here to be sentenced on a charge of being knowingly concerned in the importation of a Class B drug and possession of 43 tablets of drug; malicious damage to a taxi; conduct likely to cause breach of the peace and grave and criminal assault.  Because these offences were committed when you were under the age of 21 you are going to be sentenced as though the Criminal Justice (Young Offenders)(Jersey) Law 1994 still applies to you and the Crown's conclusions in terms of a custodial sentence are right for the length for what you have done for these offences you committed if you should go to prison. 

2.        We are not going to send you to prison but you should go to prison and you are not going to go there because there is still just a chance that you can put things right; you have said all the right things in your letter but, you will forgive us for saying, that we see often in Court people saying the right things and it is a question of what they do as well as what they say.  Although things for you have not always gone very well, the fact of the matter is that you can always blame someone else for what goes wrong and ultimately it is you and you alone who can make decisions for your future.  Because if you carry on going the way you have been you are going to be spending long periods of time in custody and whether you are or you are not is down to you - it is not down to anybody else.  With quite a lot of hesitation we are going to give you that chance today but it is down to you to make sure you do not come back again.  We see your sister is here which is good and you have support from your stepfather now which is also good so there are other people trying to make it work for you and that is what you should take along with you as their commitment and make sure that you make that commitment too. 

3.        Because the Young Offenders Law is being applied by this Court and having regard very much to the time which has been spent on remand in custody already, we are going to place the defendant on probation for 12 months.  There will be a sentence which includes community service, which will be a total of 120 hours', the alternative would have been 6 months' imprisonment, and that will be applied to Count 1 on the Fourth Indictment, the grave and criminal assault. 

4.        There will be an Exclusion Order of 18 months with effect from todays' date; that means you must be out of all licensed premises during that period except the regular exceptions of shops selling food, the Opera House, the Arts Centre, Cineworld, the Elizabeth Terminal if applicable, or the Airport, otherwise you must stay out of all licensed premises.  If you were to go into licensed premises then that would itself be an offence and you are liable to get sentenced for it. 

5.        You are ordered to pay compensation of £703.87 to Luxicabs, which is the owner of the taxi rather than the taxi driver, and you have 1 month in which to pay and if you do not pay within the month then there is a default prison sentence of 3 months' imprisonment.  If for any reason there is a problem in getting the money, it is open to you to apply to Court for a longer period to pay and you should do that because if you let the month go by and simply ignore it, you will go to prison. 

6.        You must do your community service and you must act in accordance with the probation officer's requirements for you.  If you are referred back to this Court for a breach of probation or not doing the Community Service Order, you are liable to be sentenced on these offences again and in that case it is very hard to see how a court will avoid a custodial sentence then, so treat that as being really serious; you must perform that community service. 

7.        So you are placed on 12 months' probation on Count 15 and Count 20 on the First Indictment; Count 1 and Count 3 of the Second Indictment, Count 1 of the Third Indictment and on Count 1 of the Fourth Indictment but in addition you must do 120 hours' community service in relation to Count 1 on the Fourth Indictment.  The alternative would have been 6 months' imprisonment and I make it plain to you that we have taken very much into account the time already spent in custody in reaching that conclusion.  We really do not want to see you again in this Court. 

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

Authorities

Criminal Justice (Young Offenders)(Jersey) Law 1994.

AG v Martins [2015] JRC 016.

AG v Dias [2015] JRC 010.

AG v De Freitas and Others [2014] JRC 158.

AG v Mildren [2014] JRC 141.

AG v L'Enfant [2013] JRC 169.

AG v Dubois [2012] JRC 057.

Whelan on Aspects of Sentencing in the Superior Courts of Jersey -3rd Edition.