AG v Bishop 22-Oct-12

• Jurisdiction: Jersey
• Court: Royal Court
• Judge: The Deputy Bailiff
• Judgment Date: 22 October 2012
• Neutral Citation: [2012] JRC 193A
• Date: 22 October 2012

[2012] JRC 193A

ROYAL COURT

(Samedi)

Before:

W. J. Bailhache, Q.C., Deputy Bailiff, andJurats ClaphamandBlampied.

The Attorney General

and

Benjamin Philip Bishop

C. M. M. Yates, Esq., Crown Advocate.

Advocate O. A. Blakeley for the Defendant.

Authorities

Campbell Molloy & McKenzie -v- AG [1995] JLR 136 .

Inferior Number Sentencing — drugs — possession with intent to supply — possession — Class B.

Sentencing by the Inferior Number of the Royal Court, following guilty pleas to the following charges:

1 count of: Possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply, contrary to Article 8(2) of the Misuse of Drugs (Jersey) Law 1978 (Count 1).

1 count of: Possession of a controlled drug, contrary to Article 8(1) of the Misuse of Drugs (Jersey) Law 1978 (Count 3).

Age: 22.

Plea: Guilty.

Details of Offence:

The police executed a search warrant at Bishop's home address in February 2012. Bishop voluntarily produced a piece of cannabis resin (2.5g) from his wallet (Count 2). Police officers also found £925 in cash as well as several small zip seal bags with a cannabis motif. Bishop was consequently released pending further enquiries

In March 2012 Bishop, together with Liam Norris and others, were arrested by customs officers as part of a large scale operation regarding an alleged conspiracy to import commercial quantities of cannabis resin into Jersey.

Bishop was observed carrying a small brown box when he entered Norris' work premises and was later seen leaving with a white box. Bishop and Norris were arrested and Bishop threw the white box onto the floor underneath a nearby vehicle. The white box contained 10 slates of cannabis resin weighing a total of 1,045g. At the time of his arrest, Norris was in possession of the brown box which contained inter alia £2,800 in cash.

Mobile telephones were subsequently seized from both Bishop and Norris for forensic analysis. An exchange of text messages between the two men on the evening prior to their arrests was considered by an expert witness, who concluded that the conversation was indicative of an agreement by Norris to supply Bishop with 10 slates of cannabis resin. Bishop was ruled out of the larger conspiracy investigation and was dealt with separately from Norris and others.

Details of Mitigation:

Bishop was still a young man at 22 years old. References from friends and family show that he was held in high regard. He had already served 7 ¹/₂ months in custody, being half of his daughter's life, which he regretted. He was hard working when given the opportunity and had been offered a job by Durrell after his last period of community service at the Zoo.

Previous Convictions:

Bishop was convicted of five drug related offences in 2010, including possession with intent to supply of cannabis.

Conclu...