The Attorney General v Kevin McKeown

• Jurisdiction: Jersey
• Court: Royal Court
• Judge: Bailiff
• Judgment Date: 16 February 2018
• Neutral Citation: [2018] JRC 39
• Date: 16 February 2018

[2018] JRC 039

Royal Court

(Samedi)

Before:

T. J. Le Cocq, Esq., DeputyBailiff, and Jurats Nicolle and Ramsden.

The Attorney General

and

Kevin McKeown

R. C. P. Pedley, Esq., Crown Advocate.

Advocate J. W. R. Bell for the Defendant.

Authorities

AG -v- Da Silva [1997] JLR Note 14A .

AG -v- Pietrzyk and Lipski [2011] JRC 200 .

AG -v- Falle [2015] JRC198A .

Inferior Number Sentencing — drugs — possession — Class C — riding a pedal cycle whilst under the influence — drunk and incapable — illegal entry and larceny

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

First Indictment

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

1 count of: Riding a pedal cycle when under the influence of drink or drugs, contrary to Article 27 of the Road Traffic (Jersey) Law, 1956 (Count 2).

1 count of Drunk and incapable (Count 3).

Second Indictment

1 count of: Illegal entry and larceny (Count 1).

Age:39.

Plea : Guilty.

Details of Offence:

The minor offences on the first indictment would ordinarily have been dealt with in the Magistrate's Court; however the illegal entry and larceny, which forms the second indictment and to which a ‘not guilty’ plea was originally entered (withdrawn with leave of the Court at a Plea and Directions Hearing), caused all matters outstanding against the defendant to be committed up.

The illegal entry was to a small flat in a property with a communal hallway accessed by a coded entry system. The occupant left for work around 5:00am on 6 ^th September, 2017. Around midday he received a phone call stating the door of his flat was open. He returned and found that an untidy search had been made and some of his possessions stolen, including a black motorcycle jacket.

Police attended a short while later and while speaking with the occupant the defendant entered the communal hallway, using the coded entry system. The defendant was wearing a black motorcycle jacket which the occupant immediately recognised. The defendant was highly intoxicated. He was carrying a blue draw-string bag which the occupant also recognised as having been taken from inside his flat and inside the bag were all the other stolen items, save for approximately £50 in cash.

In the time between the commission of the offence and the defendant's arrest he had been seen stumbling around in Broad Street before sprawling on the ground. A police ffficer going to his aid found him in possession of Zolpidem tablets prescribed to another (Count 1) before escorting him to the Emergency Department at the General Hospital.

The defendant was granted conditional bail which included a condition not to purchase or consume alcohol. A few days later he was found heavily intoxicated with a bicycle next to him. Police received reports he had ridden the bicycle, confirmed by police CCTV recordings (Count 2). He failed to appear in court, and was found the next day drunk and incapable and was arrested again (Count 3).

The defendant was indicted on 22 ^nd December, 2017, and conditional bail allowed to continue. On 2 ^nd February, 2018, he was found heavily intoxicated in a disabled toilet in the Jersey General Hospital. He was brought back before the Royal Court where he was given a stern warning as to his compliance and allowed his continuing freedom.

Details of Mitigation:

Guilty pleas; recovery of stolen items save for £50 cash; remorse; defendant now in regular employment; accommodation stable; positive steps to overcome alcoholism.

Previous Convictions:

Conclusions:

First Indictment

Count 1: 1 month's imprisonment.

Count 2: 1 month's imprisonment, concurrent.

Count 3 1 month's imprisonment, concurrent.

Second Indictment

Count 1: 15 months' imprisonment, concurrent to First Indictment.

Total: 15 months' imprisonment.

Compensation order sought in the sum of £50.

Sentence and Observations of Court:

First...