Guernsey Law Reports 2009-10 GLR Note 15

 

DRISCOLL v. LAW OFFICERS OF THE CROWN
ROYAL COURT (Collas, Deputy Bailiff and Jurats): September 24th, 2009
Criminal Law—drugs—importation—sentence
    The appellant, a visitor to the Island, was charged with the importation of 8.7g. of herbal cannabis and 2.9g. of cocaine, both intended for his personal use. On his guilty plea, the Magistrate’s Court sentenced him to 8 months’ imprisonment in respect of the cocaine and 1 month’s imprisonment (to run concurrently) in respect of the cannabis. He maintained on appeal that the sentences were manifestly excessive and that he had been given insufficient credit for the applicable mitigating factors.
    Held: (1) The sentences were not excessive and proper weight had been given to the mitigating factors. The court had considered the very helpful social enquiry report and written representations from the appellant, as well as several written references. It acknowledged that he was a “hardworking, conscientious and successful” 51-year-old living in England, who had only a single recent conviction for possession of cannabis and would probably never reoffend. It recognized the impact a prison sentence would have on the appellant’s business and personal life and how much it would affect his family, his business colleagues and his employees.
    (2) The importation of small quantities of Class A drugs for personal use had to be dealt with in the same way as simple possession (Richards v. Law Officers, C.A., Case Nos. 267, 270, 273, 275–277, April 18th, 2002, unreported, applied; Edwards v. Law Officers, 2005–06 GLR N [26], applied). In such a case the court was not required to select a starting point for sentencing but had to consider the circumstances of the case “in the round.” Some cases involving small quantities of Class A drugs would certainly call for referral to the Royal Court for sentencing (and the appellant was perhaps fortunate that this had not been done in this case) but, given the limits of its sentencing powers, the Magistrate’s Court had dealt with the case in a proper manner and the appeal would be dismissed.
 
2010
Law Report
None
Guernsey Law Reports 2009-10 GLR Note 15