Loan shark debt fuelled drug mule’s cannabis haul

Wednesday 11 December 2019

A Cheshire man struggling with grief and a £15,000 'loan shark' debt was driven to import nearly 15kg of cannabis resin into the island, because “he felt he had no alternative."

Barrie Cank's (46) lawyer told the Royal Court of the offender's struggles during his sentencing hearing yesterday, which saw him jailed for three years after trying to bring cannabis worth up to £300,000 into Jersey in his hire car over the summer.

Cank was caught by Customs Officers when he arrived off the Condor Liberation on 22 August this year, pretending that he had come to Jersey on a fishing and sightseeing trip. 

Crown Advocate Richard Pedley, prosecuting, told the Court that when his hire car was searched, officers found a bag of fishing rods which also contained “three tape wrapped packages."

Pictured: The hire car that Cank brought the drugs over in (Customs & Immigration).

When the Customs Officer asked Cank what was in the bag, the defendant replied: “You know what it is.”

Immediately after Cank was arrested, he showed officers where further cannabis was concealed within the car bonnet. 

In total, just under 15kg of cannabis resin was recovered from the car which, depending on how it was divided up to be sold, was estimated to be worth between £60,000 - £300,000.

Defending Cank, Advocate David Wilson said the attempted smuggler “wishes to express his sincere remorse for the incident," and that he “wishes to apologise to all concerned,"before emphasising the difficulty his client has faced in his life that caused him to turn to drugs.

After a string of close family bereavements starting when he was a teenager, Advocate Wilson focused on the “profound effect” these losses have had on Cank.

Cank was also claimed to have financial difficulties, with the Court told that this importation was intended as a means of clearing his debts.

Pictured: There were more packages of drugs concealed in the bonnet of the car (Customs & Immigration).

Advocate Wilson explained that Cank found himself in a, “...situation where he felt he had no alternative to couriering the drugs."

Promising that Cank was now “turning his life around”, Advocate Wilson reiterated his client’s “remorse and regret”.

The prosecutor noted the difficulties in Cank’s upbringing, his ‘guilty’ plea and the fact that this was a “relatively unsophisticated” operation. He recommended that the Court impose a prison sentence of three years. 

This recommendation was not challenged by Cank’s lawyer.

Royal Court Commissioner Sir William Bailhache presided over the hearing and the case was heard by Jurats Grime, Averty, Blampied, Ramsden and Thomas.

Ultimately, they agreed with the Crown’s conclusions and sentenced Cank to three years’ imprisonment.