Jersey Unreported Judgments

Inferior Number Sentencing - Illegal entry and larceny

[2019]JRC235

Royal Court

(Samedi)

6 December 2019

The Attorney General

-v-

Paul Lee Davison

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

Age:  31.

Plea: Guilty.

Details of Offence:

The defendant had been employed as an assistant food and beverage manager at the Pomme D'or Hotel ("the Hotel") during July-August 2019.  His employment was terminated in August after a company laptop and projector, which had been reported missing, were located in the defendant's room.

A few days later at 3:14am the defendant entered the Hotel via the staff way entrance using a key card he had created whilst employed at the hotel in the general manager's name.  The defendant was wearing a fur hooded parka jacket with the hood up, and was caught on camera to be looking down at the floor causing his face to be shielded from the camera.  The defendant used the same key card to access the duty manager's office and stole a safe containing £3,334.32 cash.  The cash belonged to the staff of the Hotel and not the company.  The defendant left the hotel via the way he came in and was caught on CCTV carrying the safe inside a cardboard box.  The defendant walked the stolen safe back to his address.

A day later the general manager noticed the safe was missing from the office and after reviewing the CCTV, reported the safe as stolen to the police.  The manager identified the defendant as having stolen the safe.  The defendant was arrested that same day at Jersey Airport, after officers went onto an aeroplane which was about to depart and escorted the defendant off.

Police officers located the broken safe, the cardboard box and the jacket the defendant had worn on the night he stole the safe at the defendant's address.

Details of Mitigation:

Guilty plea

Previous Convictions:

The defendant had a bad record consisting of previous convictions for burglary, robbery and theft.

Conclusions:

Compensation order sought in the sum of £1984.82 with a default sentence of 3 months' imprisonment.

Sentence and Observations of Court:

No compensation order made.

Ms E. L. Hollywood, Crown Advocate.

Advocate J. J. McCormick for the Defendant.

JUDGMENT

THE COMMISSIONER:

1.        The defendant stands to be sentenced for one count of illegal entry and larceny.  He had been employed at the Pomme D'Or, but that employment had terminated on 18^th August, 2019, after a missing laptop and projector had been located in his room.  Within a couple of days he had secured a new job with The Royal Pub in St Martin, but he says that fell through after his respective new employer spoke with the management at the Pomme D'Or. 

2.        Under the influence of alcohol and he says "as an act of revenge" he entered the Pomme D'Or at 3:14 in the morning of 24^th August, 2019, using a staff key card which had been created in the name of a manager at the Pomme D'Or whilst the defendant was employed there.  He was wearing a fur lined hooded parka jacket with the hood up and he was caught on CCTV looking down causing his face to be shielded from the camera.  He used the same key card to gain access to a manager's office where he stole a safe containing cash and other documents.  The cash, amounting to £3,334.32, belonged to the staff and not to the Pomme D'Or.  The defendant was then arrested boarding a flight to the United Kingdom the next day and £1,463 in cash was recovered from him.

3.        The defendant, who is 31, has a bad record including convictions for burglary, theft and robbery; the most recent being in 2018 for which he was sentenced to 16 months' imprisonment by the Guernsey Magistrate's Court.  He is assessed at a moderate risk of reconviction and the prosecution seek a sentence of 2 years' imprisonment for this offence.

4.        The case of AG v Gaffney [1995] JLR Note 22b identifies 18 months as the appropriate tariff for this kind of offence on a guilty plea, and we have also been referred by Crown Advocate Hollywood to AG v Frescata [2018] JRC 202 and AG v O'Shea [2011] JRC 136A.  Crown Advocate Hollywood says that this offence is aggravated by the defendant's previous convictions for dishonesty, the fact that he was under the influence of alcohol, disguised his identity from the CCTV and the use of the key card which involves a breach of trust. 

5.        In terms of mitigation the defendant has pleaded guilty and he has expressed remorse and it is correct that there have been periods during his life of gainful employment.  Advocate McCormick says 2 years is too high a sentence to impose but we disagree.  In our view this offence was premeditated and the money stolen belonged to employees at the Pomme D'Or who are still, as we understand it, out of pocket.  Furthermore, as we have just said, he has a bad record for dishonesty being sentenced for burglary and theft as recently as April 2018.

6.        Despite our sympathy with the employees the defendant has no money, no connection with the Island and has said that on release will be returning to England.  The Court in our view should not make a compensation order unless it is satisfied that it can be enforced, and we are not satisfied that in these circumstances any compensation order that we make could be realistically enforced against the defendant, so we decline to make a compensation order.

7.        You are sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment. 

Authorities

AG v Gaffney [1995] JLR Note 22b. 

AG v Frescata [2018] JRC 202

AG v O'Shea [1997] JRC 218. 

Criminal Justice Compensation Orders (Jersey) Law 1994. 

AG v Da Silva [1997] 218. 

AG v Lynn [2014] JRC 029