Cash-strapped man jailed for 'keeping heroin dry' for £100

Friday 10 May 2019

A 27-year-old man, who was paid to move £22,000 worth of heroin from a bush in town to stop the drugs getting wet, has been jailed for three-and-a-half years after being caught in the act by Police.

Aaron Andrew Young (27) admitted the charge of possession on the basis he was only moving the class A drug from one location to another – a job he had done for £100 when he was strapped for cash – and that he had no further involvement with the heroin.

He appeared for sentencing in the Royal Court this week.

Crown Advocate Conrad Yates, appearing for the prosecution, told the Royal Court that Young was apprehended by Police in October of last year. Plain clothes officers from Police and Customs were around Mount Bingham when Young was spotted as a passenger in a car heading up Pier Road before stopping outside South Hill gym.

Pictured: The drugs were stashed in the undergrowth behind South Hill Gym. (Google Maps)

The driver of the car was Young’s co-accused, Paulo Duarte Pinto, who has already been sentenced on separate charges.

Crown Advocate Yates said that Young “got out of the car and walked to a wooded area behind the gym” and then “was observed to enter an area of undergrowth from which he emerged a very short while later” before he pocketed something.

Both Young and Pinto were detained by the officers and they confiscated the drugs he had collected from the shrubbery, arresting him for possession with the intent to supply. 

Later, when Young was informed he was going to be searched at the Police station, he told Officers, “In that case, you may as well have the jackpot” before pointing them to another pocket in his trousers containing a tub filed with more packets of heroin.

In total, Young was in possession of 21.59g, which was said estimated to have a street value of “at least £22,000".

Pictured: It was at the Police station that Young admitted he had more heroin on his person.

Making his recommendation for sentencing, the Crown Advocate acknowledged that Young’s only job was to move the drugs, however he emphasised that he was “trusted” with a large quantity of Class A drugs. 

The prosecutor also noted Young’s “anti-authoritarian” attitude in the past, but said that in this instance he had been “cooperative”, “entered guilty pleas” and seemed to have an “awareness of the realities” of his offending. 

The Court was told that Young’s difficult life growing up had “impacted negatively on his behaviour". Amidst this and Young’s dependence on alcohol, Crown Advocate Yates said that there is “a glimmer of hope” in that the 27-year-old has reconnected with his extended family in the UK.

The Crown therefore advised the Court to impose a sentence of three-and-a-half years imprisonment. 

Young’s lawyer, Advocate Julian Gollop, handed up “a letter of remorse” from his client to the members of the Court and reminded them of Young’s “very limited and very, very specific” interaction with the drugs.

Pictured: The Court imposed a prison sentence of three-and-a-half years for the drugs possession.

The defence lawyer did in the main agree with the approach of the prosecution, but highlighted the small part his client played in handling the heroin in order to ensure the drugs stayed dry.

“Given his particular financial circumstances… a so-called friend offered him a quantity of £100 to move the drug from position A to position B," he said, before emphasising that Young had “no involvement in putting the drugs there, importing them and no involvement going forward.”

Although the Advocate said Young has “a bad record for a 27-year-old man”, he explained that “this offence is out of character” in that his previous crimes are “relatively low level” and don’t involve drugs. 

“You have his remorse and his regret,” Advocate Gollop added, expressing his wish that this matter will allow his client to “have a fresh start” and access “the support and guidance he’s been lacking for a number of years.”

The sentencing hearing was presided over by Deputy Bailiff Tim Le Cocq, sitting with Jurats Dulake, Christensen, Ramsden, Thomas and Ronge.

Imposing the sentence of three-and-a-half years’ jail time, the Deputy Bailiff addressed Young directly, saying: “We very much hope on your discharge you will ask for the help that you need and take advantage of it.”