Drugs - application to adjourn sentencing.
[2023]JRC093
Royal Court
(Samedi)
12 June 2023
Before :
|
R. J. MacRae, Esq., Deputy Bailiff, and
Jurats Ronge and Hughes
|
The Attorney General
-v-
Shane Derek Lloyd
Ms C. L. G. Carvalho, Crown Advocate.
Advocate A. E. Binnie for the Defendant.
EXTEMPORE JUDGMENT
THE DEPUTY BAILIFF:
1.
In this
case the Defendant stands before the Royal Court on Indictment in relation to
two offences of possession with intent to supply controlled drugs, namely
cocaine at Count 1 and cannabis at Count 2. The offences are alleged to have taken
place on 10 March 2023 when the Defendant's home address was searched and
various drugs and associated paraphernalia were found. The Defendant was interviewed the same
day and at that stage refused to give access to his iPhone. A number of devices were seized from him.
2.
The
Defendant, to his credit, pleaded guilty to these two offences on 6 April 2023 and
was remanded in custody to be sentenced by the Superior Number on 21 June 2023 and
today, pursuant to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure (Jersey) Law
2018 the Indictment has been read.
3.
The reason
for the application today is that the Crown invites the Court to order that the
sentencing hearing on 21 June should be adjourned to 24 July owing to the fact
that certain enquiries are incomplete.
They are incomplete because a number of devices capable of containing
information were seized, most of which have been analysed and downloaded and
one or two contain material which may give rise to further offences involving
the supply of controlled drugs, including the supply of cocaine and cannabis to
persons in custody.
4.
Although
the successful download of the material held on the principal phone took place shortly
after the Defendant was arrested and was disclosed to the Defence on 10th
May 2023, the police expert who needs to interpret the data that has been downloaded
in order for charges to be proffered has for a variety of reasons been unable
to yet complete that report. The Crown
invite the Court to order that he should do so for the report to be served by
5pm on 23 June 2023, the Crown to have until 30 June to proffer new charges which
the Defendant would face in order to enter his pleas on the 14 July 2023.
5.
Advocate
Binnie on behalf of the Defendant objects to this new timetable on the grounds
that it would be unfair for the Defendant who was expecting to be sentenced on
21 June. She says the Crown have
had plenty of time to put their house in order and the Defendant wishes to
start his sentence as soon as possible and the delay is unjustified.
6.
Certainly
if the delay was longer or there was any real evidence of tardiness on the part
of the Crown then we would be disposed to decline this application, but in view
of the fact that only a period of three months or so has elapsed since these
offence have been committed and the proposed timetable is an onerous one for
the Crown to comply with in the respect that we are only proposing to allow the
Crown short periods to serve the report, proffer new charges and for the Defendant
to be indicted in relation to them, and in view of the fact that the prosed
delay of 24 July is not, in the circumstances in particular in view of the serious
offences to which the Defendant has already pleaded guilty, not
disproportionate we have on balance decided that it is in the interests of
justice to allow the Crown's application.
7.
We vacate the
hearing on 21 June, refix sentence for 24 July and make the orders to which we
have referred requiring the Crown to file the expert report on 23 June by 5pm, to
proffer new charges by 5pm on 30 June and for the Defendant's case to be listed
for plea in relation to those charges before the Samedi Court on Friday 14
July.
8.
We should
add that any application to extend any of those dates should be made by the
Crown before they expire. Any
applications to extend those dates after they expire will not be entertained
and it is unlikely that any applications to extend those dates will be granted.
9.
The Court
has also taken into account the fact that it would be unfortunate if the
Defendant were to be sentenced on 21 June and thereafter the Crown were to
proffer new charges which would result in the Defendant being sentenced twice,
probably by different Jurats, in relation to offences which arose from
effectively the same set of circumstances and for that reason too we think it
is in the interests of justice to proceed in the way that we have said. We reassure the Defendant as we have
said to his counsel today that he will receive full credit for his pleas of
guilty that he entered before the Magistrate.
Authorities
Criminal Procedure (Jersey) Law 2018.