Superior Number Sentencing - drugs - importation - Class A
Before : |
T. J. Le Cocq, Esq., Deputy Bailiff, and Jurats Crill, Grime, Christensen, Dulake and Kerley |
The Attorney General
-v-
Darren Leon Spencer Dorrington
Sentencing by the Superior Number of the Royal Court, to which the accused was remanded by the Inferior Number on 17th April, 2018, following a guilty plea to the following charge:
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 1). |
Age: 49.
Plea: Guilty.
Details of Offence:
The defendant was stopped by Customs Officers at the airport after arriving on a flight from Bristol. He stated he had nothing to declare. Swabs of his wallet and holdall gave positive indications to the presence of cocaine. During a search of person the defendant produced a package he had attempted to conceal internally; when asked what it was he stated 'coke'. The package contained 57·04 grams of white powder 30% by weight cocaine. The wholesale value of the drug was estimated at £3,200 - £4,000, with a street value of £4,500 - £5,700, the likelihood being towards the upper ends of those brackets due to the high quality. During interview the defendant, a former professional boxer and coach, stated he was no longer able to work full-time due to arthritis, did not wish to claim benefits and had run up significant debt through gambling. He stated he owed money to some 'dodgy people' who asked him to deliver the drugs in return for which they would 'knock something off the bill'. The defendant stated he had been given cash to cover his expenses - £332:64 was seized from him.
Details of Mitigation:
Cooperative when detained, immediate guilty plea although in the circumstances all but inevitable. References indicated positive good character, giving freely of his time and skills in support of charities and to encourage discipline in underprivileged youngsters in his Bristol neighbourhood.
Previous Convictions:
Fifteen previous offences, mainly offences against the person and mainly in his teens and early twenties. No previous drug convictions.
Conclusions:
Count 1: |
Starting point 9 years imprisonment. 5½ years' imprisonment. |
Confiscation order sought in the sum of £332.64.
Forfeiture and destruction of the drugs sought.
Sentence and Observations of Court:
Conclusions granted.
M. R. Maletroit, Esq., Crown Advocate.
Advocate A. M. Harrison for the Defendant.
JUDGMENT
THE DEPUTY BAILIFF:
1. You are here to be sentenced for one count of fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of a controlled drug, namely cocaine, which you brought into Jersey on 16th February, 2018, concealed internally. You were carrying 57.04 grams of material with a wholesale value of £3,200-£4,000 and a street value of £4,500-£5,700.
2. You have a record of previous convictions and it is not a good record, but there are no previous convictions for drugs offences. We note your guilty pleas which are of some value, but in the circumstances of internal concealment, such a plea is perhaps an inevitable consequence.
3. We have also noted the other mitigation available to you. We have had particular regard to your references which speak well of you and to your charitable works in the local community, and we take your remorse as genuine.
4. Dealing first with the confiscation which you are not opposing, we declare benefit in the sum of £332.64 and a Confiscation Order in the same sum.
5. Turning to the question of sentence, you were a courier, and as such played a vital role in bringing controlled drugs into Jersey. You did not appear to pay any regard to the effect of the cocaine on the people of Jersey, and to that extent you were careless, it seems to us, of the consequences of your actions for those it effects. It seems to us that the Crown as taken all available mitigation into account in moving its conclusions. Quite clearly it has taken the equivalent of a full third for a guilty plea and an additional 6 months, and that seems to us in the round an entirely appropriate deduction for all available mitigation.
6. Accordingly we do not propose to depart from the Crown's conclusions and from a starting point of 9 years you are sentenced to 5½ years' imprisonment.
7. We also order the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs.
Authorities