Man in court for possessing drugs…in court

Thursday 29 March 2018

A prisoner has had his jail sentence extended after he was found to be carrying drugs in the Magistrate’s court, where he was being sentenced for another crime.

Paul Emmanuel Bisson (39) had just been sentenced to eight months in prison for motoring offences when two small wraps containing cannabis were found during a routine search, before he was taken to La Moye Prison on 24 January 2018.

Bisson was brought back to the Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday 27 March where he pleaded guilty to the two drugs offences.

The court heard that the 39-year-old claimed the packets contained prescribed medication, which he liked to keep on him wrapped in clingfilm as he suffered from back problems and had been diagnosed with arthritis. When the custody officer asked why the wrapper smelt like cannabis, Bisson replied; “I wouldn’t want to comment on that” but added that he had “no idea” that he would be given a prison sentence. 

Tests later showed that, along with some medication, the wrappers also contained 770 milligrams of cannabis and two tablets of a class C drug, namely diazepam. 

Defending him, Advocate James Bell told the court that Bisson admitted that bringing the drugs into court, when he was being sentenced for motoring offences earlier this year, was a “foolish act on his part” and described Bisson’s attempt at hiding them in his socks as a "particularly unsophisticated action.”

Advocate Bell explained to Magistrate Bridget Shaw that Bisson had asked to go to the toilet after he found out he was going to be searched before being transported to prison, which Bell suggested was an attempt by Bisson to get rid of the drugs as he had no desire to smuggle them into prison.

Magistrate Shaw questioned Advocate Bell’s defence that Bisson didn’t expect to receive a prison sentence for his last crime, saying; “Although he didn’t expect to get custody, why did he think it was ok to bring drugs into the court?”

Advocate Bell replied; “There’s no sensible answer to do that, it was obviously a foolish thing to do.”

After handing him a three week prison sentence for each offence to run consecutively after his current eight month prison sentence, Magistrate Shaw told Bisson; "You decided to bring drugs with you into court that day (…) you shouldn’t dream of bringing drugs into court."