Jail for man who smuggled cocaine worth up to £10.5k internally

Wednesday 10 April 2024

A man who claimed he was coming to Jersey as a scaffolder but who was actually smuggling cocaine worth up to £10,500 internally has been jailed for five years and three months.

The Royal Court heard that 32-year-old Andrew Patrick Borland came to the island on the ferry from Poole on 25 October last year, hiding the drugs internally.

Crown Advocate Lauren Taylor, prosecuting, said Borland told customs officers he was a scaffolder, but drug detection dogs alerted them to the cocaine.

Borland then claimed the drugs were for his own personal but the quantity indicated they had been for onward supply.

The Crown Advocate said they could have fetched between £6,500 and £10,500.

She said Borland pleaded guilty, but added: "Considering the evidence available, the plea was almost inevitable." 

Advocate Taylor suggested a sentence of six years.

Advocate Julia-Anne Dix, defending, asked for less than five years.

She said Borland was "not a sophisticated criminal" and had been taken advantage of.

Advocate Dix explained: "Mr Borland was used by others due to his naivety and his lack of consequential thinking.

"This is another tragic case where a hard-working individual makes an impulsive decision that turns his life upside-down."

Bailiff Sir Timothy Le Cocq said the Jurats had agreed to a jail sentence of five years and three months.

The Jurats sitting were Elizabeth Dulake, Steven Austin-Vautier, Gareth Hughes, Alison Opferman and Michael Entwistle.