Jail for man with ‘terrible criminal record’

Saturday 10 December 2016

A Jerseyman with a ‘terrible criminal record’ stemming from his drugs habit has been sent to prison for 14 months for committing a series of unconnected crimes including common assault and theft.

Sentencing 31-year-old James Power, Sir Michael Birt told the man although his offences were at the lower end of the scale he had no choice but to send him to prison because he has such a bad record.

And Sir Michael urged Power to tackle his drugs problem if he really wanted to get his life back on track.

In June a police officer stopped Power in Stopford Road after he was spotted acting suspiciously. A search of the area was conducted and 20 2mg diazepam tablets and 32 5mg diazepam tablets were found under a nearby car. Diazepam is a Class C controlled drug.

Later in the month Power assaulted a fellow resident at the Shelter in Kensington Place. Power accused the man of stealing £100 and grabbed him around the neck.

The following month Power stole a bottle of chocolate milk and groceries totalling just over £10 from Checkers at Grands Vaux because he didn’t have the money to pay for them.

Later in July Power stole a bicycle originally worth over £1,000 from an underground car park in St Helier.

Finally in August Power was spotted breaking into a premises in town. When police found him he was sat on the sofa rolling a cannabis joint.

Although his defence advocate argued sending Power to prison was the easy option, the court reject his plea for community service and probation saying Power’s record was just too bad.