“Social” dealer jailed for £35k of drugs

Tuesday 12 February 2019

A man in his twenties has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years behind bars for the supply and possession of ecstasy and cannabis – drugs with a total street value of over £35,000.

Jack Taylor (26) appeared in the Royal Court for sentencing after he was caught with the drugs and a substantial quantity of cash during a search of his home in April last year.

Taylor was charged with five offences, including supplying 16 tablets of MDMA, supplying 1.5kg of cannabis, possession of a small amount of MDMA, possession of 740g of cannabis with the intent to supply it and further possession of 83g of cannabis for his own personal use.

Pictured: The case was heard in the Royal Court by the Bailiff and a panel of six Jurats who only assemble to pass sentence on the most serious of offences.

The young man admitted the crimes at a Court hearing late last year and today appeared before the Bailiff Sir William Bailhache, sitting with Jurats Blampied, Christensen, Dulake, Olsen, Pitman and Sparrow. Together, the Jurats formed the ‘Superior Number’, a panel that only assembles to pass sentence on the most serious of cases.

Crown Advocate Conrad Yates appeared for the prosecution and he took the Court through a summary of Taylor’s offending. The Court heard that Taylor’s involvement in drugs “came to light following the arrest of another man” in April last year. This arrest prompted the search of Taylor’s address where the drugs were found.

The Crown Advocate explained that when the Police entered the property, “there were small pieces of cannabis on a coffee table”, “a small wrap containing white powder” was also found along with “a locked red cash tin” containing “a substantial quantity of cannabis resin and a substantial quantity of cash."

A later investigation of Taylor’s phone also implicated him in the supply of 16 ecstasy tablets and 1.5kg of cannabis – drugs worth £320 and £22,500 respectively.

Pictured: An investigation of Jack Taylor's iPhone showed that he was involved in the supply of both MDMA and over £22,500 worth of cannabis.

In making his sentencing recommendations, Crown Advocate Yates emphasised that a background report prepared by the Probation Service assessed that Taylor was as “a moderate risk of re-conviction”, particularly noting his “poor judgment and decision making skills” as well as his “lack of consequential thinking".

Acknowledging Taylor’s early admission of guilt and the fact he was “cooperative” with authorities throughout the investigation, the Crown Advocate asked the Court to impose a sentence of four years’ imprisonment.

Taylor was represented by Advocate Michael Haines, who invited the Court to sentence his client to a 12-month probation order and community service. The defence Advocate urged the Court to consider that Taylor was only involved in dealing drugs by way of a “social supply to friends” and that his client is “motivated to maintain a drug-free lifestyle."

With regard to the supply of the 16 Class A MDMA tablets, the defence Advocate said that it involved a “very small quantity of pills."

Pictured: The 26-year-old will spend three-and-a-half years in jail for his involvement in drugs possession and supply.

Advocate Haines pressed for the Court to consider all of Taylor’s circumstances “to avoid inappropriate harshness and injustice of sentence."

Handing down the sentence, Sir William informed Taylor that he and the Jurats had decided to send him to prison for three-and-a-half years. 

The Bailiff addressed the young man directly, explaining that the reason the Court takes offences of this nature so seriously is because “drug dealing causes damage to people."

“At your age you should have known better… you have time to think about that when you’re serving your sentence,” the Bailiff remarked, adding that upon his release, Taylor would be able “to start again fresh.” 

The Court also made an order for the drugs to be seized and destroyed.