“I’m not going to give you another chance”

Saturday 05 October 2019

An offender, who was caught with seven grams of cannabis after failing to turn up to community service, has been denied "another chance" and sent to jail.

Ryan Gary David Bisson (30) was told in the Magistrate's Court on Friday that his chances have run out, leading to him being jailed for two months for failing to comply with the terms of a previous court order.

Bisson was ordered to complete 100 hours’ community service in May of this year over a separate matter, and he has completed “just over half” of the order.

Both breaches were accepted by Bisson’s lawyer, Advocate David Steenson, who urged the presiding Relief Magistrate David Le Cornu to give his client “another chance to complete the Community Service Order".

Pictured: Ryan Bisson was jailed for the community service breaches.

The Court was told that when officers went to Bisson’s flat to arrest him for not attending community service, they found cannabis in his possession.

Advocate Steenson explained that not only had his client not shown up for community service, but he then didn’t attend a meeting to discuss his non-compliance because – as Bisson informed the service the day after the meeting – “he had gone out the evening before and got drunk".

The defence lawyer acknowledged that “it’s difficult for the Court to give people like Mr Bisson chance after chance”, but nonetheless he argued that the Relief Magistrate “could give him one more opportunity".

Pictured: The case was heard in the Magistrate's Court.

Although he conceded it was “late in the day”, Advocate Steenson maintained that Bisson was “extremely worried about going to prison".

The Relief Magistrate, however, remarked that he had imposed the community-based order to “give [Bisson] a chance”, and that he was told on that occasion that any breach would result in a custodial sentence.

“I’m not going to give you another chance,” he said. 

Having said this, Relief Magistrate Le Cornu ordered that the community service order be revoked and Bisson be jailed for two months. He was also fined £250 for the drugs possession charge.