"I want to be brutally honest with you, lads... I have cocaine inside me"

Tuesday 11 October 2022

A serial drug offender from Liverpool has become a "model" inmate - even helping in a medical emergency at the prison - since admitting he was carrying £25,000-worth of cocaine inside him after being stopped at Jersey Airport this summer.

Lawrence David Mitchell (37), who was arrested after attempting to smuggle 112.15g of "high purity" cocaine into the island in July, was sentenced to seven years behind bars in the Royal Court on Tuesday afternoon.

Relaying the facts of the case, Crown Advocate Simon Crowder explained that Mitchell was stopped when he arrived in Jersey Airport on a flight from his home town of Liverpool.

He told Customs Officers that he was travelling alone and had nothing to declare, but his belongings tested positive for traces of cocaine and he admitted using the drug the previous weekend.

Mitchell, a self-employed joiner, said he was travelling to Jersey for one night for a job interview, but did not have any contact details for the person he was meeting, saying it had been arranged through a "friend of a friend". It later emerged he also had no accommodation booked in the island.

After discussing his previous drug convictions with Customs Officers, one of which he claimed was a "misunderstanding", he was searched and nothing was found, but officers still decided to arrest him on suspicion of drug importation.

While in custody later on, Mitchell asked to use the 'Drugs Amnesty Toilet', telling the officers on duty: "I want to be brutally honest with you lads, I have 16 quarters of Charlie [cocaine] inside of me". A "quarter" refers to a quarter of an ounce, which weighs approximately 7g.

“I know I am f**ked I just want it out," Mitchell admitted.

In total, Mitchell had been carrying 16 condom-wrapped packages inside with a total weight of 157g.

Analysis of the drugs showed that there was 112.15g of cocaine with a purity of 81% - "much higher than typically found at street level" - drugs which at street level could reach up to £24,640. The strength of the drugs also meant they could be "adulterated multiple times" to provide more sales, the Court heard.

When interviewed, Mitchell provided mostly "no comment" answers, but admitted he was due to be paid £1,500 and expressed distress about his financial situation. Showing "significant fear of reprisals", the Court heard that he did not say much more.

Pictured: Mitchell concealed the 16 packages internally.

Mitchell agreed to provide the password for his phone, but a search showed nothing to suggest that he had organised the import. Officers also reviewed his bank account, finding "no suspicious transactions". This also showed that he was £15,000 overdrawn, had "no legitimate employment" and was receiving benefits.

Advocate Crowder described Mitchell as a “well-trusted drugs courier” who was "not of good character". He has 38 previous convictions, 10 of of which were for drugs offences including four years' imprisonment in 2012 for planning to supply cocaine.

While the Crown Advocate acknowledged that Mitchell had "assisted" with the investigation and pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, Advocate Crowder also noted that he had mainly provided "no comment" answers and that a conviction was "all but inevitable in the circumstances" anyway.

The Court heard that Mitchell had also expressed that he had "made an error of judgment which he deeply regrets”, the Court heard, but was nonetheless still deemed to be at "high-risk" of reoffending.

Calling for a sentence of eight years imprisonment, Advocate Crowder described the importation of a “commercial quantity” of a Class A drug as something which is “dangerous, ruins lives and has a damaging impact on the local community”.

Defending, Advocate Allana Binnie explained that Mitchell was “clearly at the bottom of the chain”, had no knowledge of the drugs' purity, and disputed that he was a "well-trusted" courier. She said the money he was due to be paid was "insignificant"- if he was well-trusted, she argued, he would have received substantially more and likely been paid in advance.

She also said it was "unfortunate circumstances" that led Mitchell to turn to smuggling drugs for cash, such as a £16,000 debt to a hire company incurred when his friend caused "significant damage" to a vehicle rented using his bank details. A family bereavement was also said to have impacted his mental health.

The defence advocate explained that Mitchell had worked as a carpenter-joiner since he left school at early age, and heard that there was more work and a higher rate of pay available for this type of work in Jersey. After the “breakdown of his relationship”, Mitchell believed that a “fresh start was good and would help him get out of overdraft quickly”.

The news of his plans to move to Jersey spread quickly through the “small but tough part of Liverpool” that Mitchell was from, and old associates made contact promising money and job opportunities in return for the importation of drugs into the island.

Advocate Binnie explained that Mitchell felt that "saying no was not really an option" as he was "scared of the repercussions". He did, however, believe that the street value of the drugs was "significantly less” and thought that "if he was caught he was be subject to community service or short prison sentence”.

She said Mitchell showed “absolute shock” when he was advised of the value of the drugs and his likely sentence in Jersey, explaining that, "if he had known these things at the time he would never have brought them to Jersey”.

The defence advocate said that Mitchell had “tried extremely hard to break away from old associates and past life”, and read references referring to him as the “perfect family man” with a "good work ethic" who is “charitable”, “remorseful” and had made a “real effort to turn his life around”.

She explained that her client “deeply regrets” the impact of his actions on his family but “knows that he only has his self to blame”. Mitchell also “acknowledges effect the drugs could have had on the people of Jersey”.

The defence advocate explained that nine out of her client's ten previous drug convictions were ”simple low-level possession”. She added that he had been a "model prisoner" at HMP La Moye since he was sent there in July, having helped in an emergency medical incident, mentored a vulnerable inmate, and enrolled on an Open University course to become a Personal Trainer.

Calling for a six-and-a-half year sentence, Advocate Binnie said that Mitchell had really made the “best of a bad situation”.

Handing down a seven-year sentence, the Bailiff, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, said: "Couriers such as yourself play a vital role and must be sentenced accordingly".

While he acknowledged that Mitchell was a "simple courier", who had been "cooperative" and behaved well in prison, Sir Timothy said that the "high purity" of the drugs made them "more harmful".