Offender who tried to smuggle drugs into prison denied chance to appeal

Tuesday 10 January 2023

A man who attacked a woman at a nightclub then tried to smuggle drugs to someone in prison the following day has been denied the chance to appeal his sentence.

The Royal Court has rejected an appeal by Elias Campbell Benyoucef for an extension of time in which to appeal against a sentence imposed in the Magistrate’s Court on 17 August 2022.

In August, Benyoucef was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment for grabbing a woman by the neck and holding her against a wall at a St. Helier nightclub in April 2022, and trying to smuggle drugs into prison the following day.

Benyoucef pleaded guilty to the assault charge at an early stage, but did not accept the version of events put forward by the prosecution.

It was then agreed at a hearing in July that Benyoucef assaulted the woman by grabbing her forcefully by the lower neck and pushing her against a wall with "sufficient force to prevent her from moving" whilst "he held her against the wall for several seconds".

The grab to the neck did not choke the woman or stop her breathing, but it did cause reddening to her neck.

Benyoucef's second offence related to bringing 6mg of Buprenorphine, a Class B controlled drug, into prison.  

Benyoucef visited a prisoner at HMP La Moye on 17 April 2022, where he transferred the drug to the prisoner who put it in his mouth.  

This was spotted on the CCTV camera and the drug was removed from the prisoner when he left the visiting hall.

Benyoucef, who was aged 26 at the time of sentencing, already had convictions for three offences including grave and criminal assault in 2018 for which he received a community service order of 130 hours. 

He also had convictions for 10 drug offences, most of which were for possession. He had received a sentence of four-and-a-half years imprisonment in July 2019 for six drug offences, including two charges of possession with intent to supply.

Defending Benyoucef in August, Advocate Chris Baglin urged that there be a community service order rather than a prison sentence.

He explained that there had been no previous suggestion of violence against the women during Benyoucef's relationship with her, and emphasised that the about of drug involved in the prison offence was very small.

Advocate Baglin added that Benyoucef's personal mitigation involved a very difficult upbringing after he was torn from his parents as a child, illegally trafficked from Morocco and "failed" by Jersey. 

Despite this, Benyoucef was sentenced to six months' imprisonment for the assault and three months' imprisonment for the drug smuggling, making a total of nine months' imprisonment.

The sentences were imposed on 17 August 2022 and the law states any appeal against sentence from the Magistrate’s Court must be within seven days after the date of sentence. Benyoucef did not appeal his sentence until two months later, and therefore had to appear in the Royal Court to apply for an extension of time in which to appeal against a sentence imposed in the Magistrate’s Court. The case was heard in December.

A judgment published this week showed that Commissioner Sir Michael Birt rejected Benyoucef's appeal for an extension due to the "length of the delay, the absence of good reason for that delay and the lack of prospects for a successful appeal".

Sir Michael concluded: "I am not surprised that the Relief Magistrate rejected the submission that he should impose a community service order and it does not seem to me to be arguable that the overall sentence of nine months for the two offences was manifestly excessive or wrong in principle."