Jersey drug dealer jailed for four years

Friday 22 October 2021

A 29-year-old man has been jailed for four years for being concerned in the supply of cocaine, cannabis and MDMA to friends.

Jamie Alan George Davies yesterday appeared in the Royal Court before Commissioner Julian Clyde-Smith, sitting with Jurats Collette Anne Crill, Jane Ronge and Robert Christensen MBE, where he was also sentenced for possessing 200g of cannabis resin, some of which he intended to supply.

On 2 March last year, police searched Davies' home address in St Helier, as he and another man were leaving.

Both men were searched, with the other man found in possession of 5g of cannabis.

Davies told officers that he had "about 30g" of cannabis in his flat upstairs, and was arrested by officers.

During the search, police seized 3.58g of cocaine in a white plastic bag, a plastic tub with 55.79g of cannabis resin, a bar of cannabis resin weighing 95.93g in a plastic zip lock bag, two lumps of cannabis resin weighing 10.03g in cellophane, and 32.59g of cannabis resin in cellophane.

Pictured: Police found a total of 194.34g of cannabis resin in Davies' flat.

They also seized a knife with brown resin on the blade, a black iPhone 7, digital scales with 23 mg of cannabis residue on them (which Davies later admitted he used to weigh cannabis he bought), and £95 in cash.

Speaking to police on 3 March 2020, Davies told police he had smoked two grams of cannabis a day for the previous 2 months, and that he had purchased it on various occasions since the previous summer, refusing to name the dealers.

On a second interview, he replied no comment to all relevant questions.

With Davies having provided the pin to his phone, police later identified a number of conversations showing drug trafficking exchanges.

These included four exchanges between August 2019 and February 2020 relating to supplying cocaine, including agreeing to give 1g of cocaine for £120 to someone after they had asked him for something "to make money with", and offering cocaine to someone who did not take up the offer.

On these exchanges, Davies asserted he was an occasional cocaine user, and denied that he would have made a profit from any of the exchanges.

Police also identified a conversations around the supply of cannabis in early 2020, with Davies offering to supply 30g for £420, which his friend accepted.

Another message a few weeks later saw him agree to give this friend 80g.

It was also noted that he supplied the same man police found him with on 2 March with 5g of cannabis.

On this count, Davies asserted that he was a regular user of cannabis and would buy larger amounts of it because of this.

He said that he would sell smaller amounts to friends if they were short of cannabis or if he needed money, and that if he didn't have cannabis on him, he would put friends in touch with someone who did.

In a 2019 text, Davies offered sell 1g of MDMA to a friend, asking for £75, which his friend then offered him £70 for - he said he believed that the MDMA he sold was left over from his own use, and that he did not make a profit.

Of the 194.34g of cannabis resin found in his flat, which makes up one of his charges, Davies stated that he was likely to have supplied around 65g of it.

The rest, he said, was either for personal use, or was so poor quality that he wouldn't have smoked or sold it.

Though the defendant's explanation was not accepted by the prosecution, it was agreed that the difference between his account and theirs would not make a substantial difference to the sentence.

Prosecuting, Crown Advocate Lauren Hallam recommended a total of four-and-a-half years' imprisonment.

Davies' lawyer, Advocate Sarah Dale, encouraged the court to consider community service for Davies, saying that despite the prosecution's assertions, there was "no evidence" Davies was part of any high level operation.

She said the reason for the large amount of cannabis in his flat was that he was a regular user, and highlighted his co-operation with police in the way he gave them his pin number, which provided the Crown with some of its evidence.

She added that that the exchanges highlighted on his phone were around "once a month", and indicative that he was not "on a daily basis dealing drugs."

Advocate Dale argued: "This is not a commercial enterprise, my client did not make a profit from the sale of these drugs", saying they were "drugs that he had in his possession which he has bought for street price and sold on for the same amount."

She further pointed out that since the arrest, Mr Davies had abstained from both alcohol and Class A use, and had "almost" stopped his cannabis use too.

He had become a father in the past year and had been lending support to his family, Advocate Dale continued, telling the court that the family had been "significantly impacted" since he was remanded into custody this year.

Summing up, Commissioner Julian Clyde-Smith acknowledged there had been "great amount of remorse from [Davies] in correspondence."

He said that though Advocate Dale had urged the court to consider community service, "after careful consideration", they could not justify a reduction in sentence "for a defendant who has been involved in dealing in Class A drugs."

Commissioner Clyde-Smith sentenced Davies to four years in prison on both counts of being concerned in supplying MDMA and concerned in supplying cocaine.

He sentenced him to six months in prison on both counts of possessing cannabis and possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

All sentences will be served concurrently, meaning Davies will serve four years in prison.