The Attorney General v Aaron Daniel Higgins; Stuart Daniel Hutchison

• Jurisdiction: Jersey
• Court: Royal Court
• Judge: J. A. Clyde-Smith,Jurats Kerley,Nicolle,Crill,Liston,Grime
• Judgment Date: 30 March 2015
• Neutral Citation: [2015] JRC 66A
• Date: 30 March 2015

[2015] JRC 66A

ROYAL COURT

(Samedi)

Before:

J. A. Clyde-Smith, Esq., Commissioner, and Jurats Kerley, Nicolle, Crill, Liston, and Grime.

The Attorney General

and

Aaron Daniel Higgins

Stuart Daniel Hutchison

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

Advocate N. MacDonald for Higgins.

Advocate J. W. R. Bell for Hutchison.

Authorities

Rimmer and Others -v- AG [2001] JLR 373.

AG -v- Mackenzie [2011] JRC 171.

Campbell, Malloy and MacKenzie -v- AG [1995] JLR 136.

Superior Number Sentencing — drugs — possession with intent to supply — possession — supply.

Sentencing by the Superior Number of the Royal Court, to which the accused were remanded by the Inferior Number on 23 ^rd January, 2015, following guilty pleas to the following charges:

Aaron Daniel Higgins

1 count of: Supplying a controlled drug, contrary to Article 5(b) of the Misuse of Drugs (Jersey) Law 1978 (Count 1).

3 counts of: Possession of a controlled drug, contrary to Article 8(1) of the Misuse of Drugs (Jersey) Law 1978 (Counts 2, 3 and 5).

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 4).

Age: 25.

Plea: Guilty.

Details of Offence:

Higgins and Hutchison were arrested at St Clement's Recreation Ground. Higgins, who was in sports clothes, had £2,000 in cash in his shorts pocket. Hutchison had 7 grams of heroin in a zip-lock bag in his possession. A search of the changing facilities where Higgins had been playing squash revealed that Higgins' sports bag contained 7 more identical zip-lock bags containing a total of 48 grams heroin. A search of Higgins' home address revealed a small bag containing 1.34 grams of MDMA powder (Count 2) and boxes containing 18 Stanozolol tablets (Count 3).

At Indictment Higgins admitted supplying 7 grams of heroin to Hutchison for £2,000 (Count 1) and said that of the 48 grams in his sports bag he would have supplied approximately 38 grams (Count 4) and kept 10 grams for his own use (Count 5). The total amount trafficked by Higgins was therefore in the region of 45 grams.

Hutchison stated that half the heroin that he had purchased from Higgins was for his own use (Count 7), and the remainder was to be sold to a friend at cost (Count 6).

Details of Mitigation:

Both men pleaded guilty. Higgins had recently returned to the Island after several months on remand in a Balinese gaol where he had been introduced to heroin while awaiting trial on a false allegation of theft of a watch. On release he had struggled to come to terms with his addiction.

Previous Convictions:

Higgins had a number of minor convictions including two for simple possession of cannabis (the most recent of which was 7 years ago).

Conclusions:

Starting point:– 9 ¹/₂ years' imprisonment.

Count 1: 5 years' imprisonment.

Count 2: 1 year's imprisonment, concurrent.

Count 3: 1 month's imprisonment, concurrent.

Count 4: 6 years' imprisonment, concurrent.

Count 5: 2 years' imprisonment, concurrent.

Total: 6 years' imprisonment.

Confiscation Order sought in the sum of £2,010.

Forfeiture and destruction of drugs sought.

Sentence and Observations of Court:

Defence lawyers advanced that greater allowance should be made for the mitigation available, with which the Court concurred reducing the Crown's conclusions slightly:–

Count 1: 4 ¹/₂ years' imprisonment.

Count 2: 1 year's imprisonment, concurrent.

Count 3: 1 month's imprisonment, concurrent.

Count 4: 5 ¹/₂ years' imprisonment, concurrent.

Count 5: 2 years' imprisonment, concurrent.

Total: 5 ¹/₂ years' imprisonment.

Confiscation Order made in the sum of £2,010.

Forfeiture and destruction of drugs ordered.

Stuart Daniel Hutchison

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 6).

1 count of: Possession of a controlled drug, contrary to Article 8(1) of the Misuse of Drugs (Jersey) Law 1978 (Count 7).

Age: 29.

Plea: Guilty.

Details of Offence:

See Higgins above.

Details of Mitigation:

Both men pleaded guilty. Hutchison had developed a dependency on opiates while in hospital in India following a motorcycle accident.

Previous Convictions:

Hutchison had a slightly more extensive record than Higgins which included two convictions for simple possession of cannabis (the most recent being 5 years ago, since which he had remained out of trouble).

Conclusions:

Starting point:– 7 years' imprisonment.

Count 6: 3 ¹/₂ years' imprisonment.

Count 7: 18 months' imprisonment, concurrent.

Total: 3 ¹/₂ years' imprisonment.

Confiscation Order sought in the sum of £90.43

Forfeiture and destruction of drugs sought.

Sentence and Observations of Court:

Defence lawyers advanced that greater allowance should be made for the mitigation available, with which the Court concurred reducing the Crown's conclusions slightly:–

Count 6: 3 years' imprisonment.

Count 7: 18 months' imprisonment, concurrent.

Total: 3 years' imprisonment.

Confiscation Order made in the sum of £90.43.

Forfeiture and destruction of drugs ordered.

THE COMMISSIONER:

1 The defendants stand to be sentenced for drugs offences; the most serious relates to Higgins who has pleaded guilty to supplying Hutchison with 6.95 grams of heroin with a street value of up to £7,000 and possession of 38 grams of heroin with a street value of up to £49,000...