Jail for drug supplier who kicked police officer in groin

Thursday 26 August 2021

A 23-year-old, who was involved in supplying drugs, including cocaine, Ritalin and diazepam, possessing MDMA, and kicked a police officer in the groin when he tried to arrest her has been jailed for four years and three months.

Charlotte Ella Catherine Herd appeared in the Royal Court on Wednesday to be sentenced for a number of charges.

The sentence also took into account her breaching community service and probation orders given for previous assaults on police officers.

The most serious charges related to supplying 2g of cocaine to two customers and four tablets of Valium to one of those individuals.

The transactions were revealed in text messages between Herd and two people, after police had earlier searched the properties of the two and seized their phones.

This led officers to arrest Herd on 26 May 2020 and search her St. Saviour home, where they found 1.16g of MDMA powder, 37 tablets of methylphenidate and £690 in cash, all in her bedroom chest of drawers.

The Crown accepted that these drugs were for her own use and not for supply.

Giving an example of the text conversations to the Court, Crown Advocate Matthew Maletroit said: “On 9 December 2019, Ms Y sent a message to the Defendant [Herd] asking, 'Anything available?'. 

“The Defendant responded, 'Hey chicken yeah only got Ritalin, coke or mandy', which indicates that she had access to Class B methylphenidate, Class A cocaine and Class A MDMA for supply.

Pictured: Advocate Allana Binnie defended Charlotte Herd at sentencing.

“The Defendant added, 'And only a few yellow valium no blues for a while'. Yellow and blue valium are types of benzodiazepines which contain Class C diazepam. 

“Ms Y used code to inform the Defendant that she wanted to buy cocaine and yellow valium. The Defendant offered to sell Ms Y cocaine at £150 per gram and described it as 'dynamite' and 'rocket fuel', suggesting high purity.”

Advocate Maletroit added that, although Herd said she was pressured into dealing by a male with whom she was in a relationship at the time, she still played a “significant role” by negotiating sales, meeting buyers and collecting cash.

While the legal process around the drugs charges was progressing, Herd was placed on police bail on 24 May this year following her arrest in respect of an alleged domestic incident.

One of the conditions of bail was that she couldn’t contact her new partner or go to his house, but the police received information that Herd was there and two officers attended. 

Herd resisted arrest, which included her screaming, shouting and swearing at them, and kicking one officer in the groin and upper leg. 

Defending Herd, Advocate Allana Binnie said her client had been in a physically and emotionally abusive relationship at the time of the drugs offences. 

“The domestic abuse was long running well before drugs came into the relationship,” she said. “She was already physically and emotionally abused to a significant level, so she knew the threat of not complying was real, because she had already experienced it.”

Advocate Binnie added that her client had made significant progress during her three months in custody on remand and it had been a beneficial experience in one sense, but she was now ready to rebuild her life outside of prison, supported by her family and friends. 

The lawyer called for a non-custodial sentence, saying that Herd wanted to apply for employment in hospitality and already had voluntary work with a charity arranged. 

However, the Court - presided by the Bailiff, Tim Le Cocq, who was sitting with Jurats Rozelle Thomas, Jane Ronge and Robert Christensen - was not persuaded.

“This is a serious example of offending and we do not think it possible for you to avoid a custodial sentence,” he said. “There are positive signs in accompanying reports that say you are ready to address the issues that underpin your offending, and we hope that you do so.”