Failures in young mental health services 'led to teen drug abuse'

Tuesday 02 August 2022

The "failure of Jersey’s mental health services" forced a young islander to turn to illegal drugs because his "desperate cries for help" were going unanswered, a lawyer told the Royal Court yesterday.

Advocate Alana Binnie told Jurats sentencing her client - who cannot be named due to his age at the time of his offending - that the failure of experts to diagnose that he had autism and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) had profoundly affected his life and led to him seeking relief in drugs.

Advocate Binnie told the court her client went through school "knowing that he was different from all his friends", but, despite pleading for help, none was forthcoming. He found it difficult to make friends, became more withdrawn, and started spending more and more time alone in his bedroom.

The boy then started self-medicating, at first with high-energy drinks that made him feel better, then with illegal drugs. He soon found cannabis helped his insomnia. Later, according to Advocate Binnie, because of lockdown, as well as being cheaper and easier, the boy turned to the web to buy his drugs.

In November 2020, in what Crown Advocate Lauren Hallam claimed was a "sophisticated operation", the teen ordered 35g of amphetamine at a cost of £150 over the 'dark web' and arranged for the tablets to be posted to the island.

Pictured: The young man's involvement with drugs was described as a "sophisticated operation" in the Royal Court.

He had hatched a scheme whereby they were to be sent under a false name to a contact's address in St. Helier. He later collected the drugs, gave his contact £200 and a few grams of the drugs, and kept the rest for himself.

He later told officers he did not think he was addicted but liked to use "speed", and that he would use up to 4g of amphetamine a day.

Customs had been following the package and carried out a search warrant at the teenager's home. Not only did their search uncover more drugs, with a total value of around £2,000, it also found more evidence including iPhones and a computer to support the belief this was not just a one-off operation.

At first, the police were not able to access the accused's iPhone because he would not give them his pin or pass code. But, when his mother did, the police found several messages discussing cash and drug supply, numerous drug related web-searches and trading accounts, and evidence of previous cannabis purchases.

In addition, there was a lengthy text document in which the accused described how a lot of money could be made in the drugs industry, that he had big plans for the future, and that Jersey was his way in.

The accused had also shared a video, which the Crown claimed was a "sales advertisement".

The defence claimed this was an act of bravado aimed at gaining recognition from the drugs crowd he had fallen in with. "He now feels embarrassed by it," Advocate Binnie told the court.

The police were not so successful with gaining information from the laptop because it had been fitted with a special device that helped cover his tracks.

More criticism of Jersey's mental health services followed, with Advocate Binnie claiming neither the accused nor his family had any trust in them.

She then went on to claim that although the young man's GP is aware of his medical condition, he cannot issue any ADHD medication unless his client is seen by the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), and that there is a year-long waiting list.

Handing down the sentence, Commissioner Sir William Bailhache told the accused that because of his age he was not going to prison but was being given 150 hours community service and a 12-month probation order.

In Sir William's view, whilst the young man clearly had mental health issues, this only "went some way" to explaining his actions, and he agreed with the prosecution that the use of the dark web, and technology used on his laptop to try and cover his tracks showed there was a degree of "sophistication" to the enterprise.

Some of his sternest words were aimed at the island's mental health services, however.

"If, as is claimed, it's right that there is a year's waiting list for treatment when there has already been a full diagnosis, it seems to us to be very undesirable as an outcome," Sir William said.

He added: "Medication should be available at a very early course. This is quite extraordinary."

Pictured: Sir William Bailhache said it was "very undesirable" that there was a year's waiting list for treatment after the young man had received a full diagnosis.

In an unusual procedural twist, Sir William then told the young man to get up from the bench he was sharing with his father, and stand in front of him.

Peering down from the Jurats' bench at the accused, who was now only about three feet away, he said to him: "You need to burn today in your memory - if not, a life of jail sentences awaits you.

"We take drug trafficking very seriously."

He then reminded the young offender that if he did not complete his community service or probation order, he could also be sent to prison.

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