Serial offender detained after breaking UK mental health facility rules

Sunday 25 November 2018

A serial criminal, who was sent to a secure mental health facility in the UK to treat the "complex issues" behind his pattern of reoffending, has been sent back to Jersey and detained in prison after breaking the facility's rules by smoking cannabis and lashing out at others.

Luke Clint Cox (31), who is also known as Luke Clint McIntyre, was remanded in custody until 14 December after appearing in the Royal Court on Friday.

He was put on probation for two-and-a-half years on 24 May after a spate of offences in 2017, which included possession of cannabis, larceny and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Crown Advocate Richard Pedley recommended at the time that Cox, who has 144 offences on his record including 15 against property, be jailed for five years.

However, Cox’s lawyer, Advocate Lucy Marks, convinced the court to opt for a 30-month probation order with very strict conditions. She explained that as per the recommendations of the probation order, Cox would be send to a locked mental health facility in the UK where he would receive “intensive treatment and care” to address his problems with offending. 

The Bailiff, Sir William Bailhache, said jailing Cox would mean he would continue to offend once out of prison. He told Cox he had the intelligence and ability to turn his life around and urged him to work hard to do so. “We don’t want to see you again,” he warned him.

Pictured: Cox will be brought back to Court on 14 December for the Court to decide what sentence it should apply for the breach of the probation order. 

But Cox appeared in Royal Court on Friday, having been sent back by the facility he was staying at. The court heard Cox had absconded from the facility and had been found with cannabis, as well as other objects banned from the ward on other occasions. He had also withdrawn from the treatment and become abusive to the point he had thrown objects at others.

Cox was therefore assessed to be no longer suitable for treatment, and returned to Jersey this week. Crown Advocate Conrad Yates explained that the discharge and the fact that Cox did not comply with the terms of his order put him breach of the order without excuse.

He recommended Cox be remanded in custody until 14 December, saying he had been given an opportunity to change and had been sent to a very well-renowned centre in the UK. “The only other alternative is custody,” the Crown Advocate said. “It’s such as shame that history is repeating.”

Pictured: The Deputy Bailiif, Tim Le Cocq, said that Cox should be remanded in custody until 14 December.

Cox told Court he had been trying “so hard to change and came such a long way in just six months.” “The way I see this is I am on a journey - the end is not in sight yet,” he told Court. “There is still work I need to do. I am asking for the opportunity to do that.”

The Deputy Bailiif, Tim Le Cocq, who was sitting with Jurats Paul Nicolle and Elizabeth Dulake, decided to remand Cox into custody until 14 December. The Royal Court will decide what sentence it should apply regarding the breach of the probation order. 

He told Cox: “On the last occasion as the Crown Advocate said the Court gave you a very, very significant opportunity… Your current actions put you in breach of the order.”