Prison for offender who shipped £40k heroin in highlighter pens

Tuesday 02 November 2021

A 36-year-old serial offender, who imported heroin worth nearly £40,000 hidden in highlighter pens, has been thrown behind bars for four years after being snared by a Customs sting.

Barry John Picot - who has more than 200 offences to his name - was sentenced in the Royal Court on Monday afternoon.

On 4 February 2021, a Customs and Immigration Officer examined a package at Jersey Post Office addressed to a 'Mr B Picot', finding it contained two colouring books and a packet of highlighter pens.

On closer examination, he found the pens had a number of plastic wraps with brown powder, which later tested positive as heroin, inside them.

The day after the package had been identified, Customs Officers made a substitute package using the original packet, a covert audio device and an ultraviolet marker powder.

After it has been delivered, Customs and Immigration Officers arrested Picot and his partner on suspicion of being concerned in the importation of drugs - it was noted that the package had not been opened and Picot had written 'return to sender' on it.

Officers also located two small quantities of cannabis resin at the address, as well as several mobile telephones and a set of digital weighing scales.

Being interviewed that day, Picot initially stated he knew nothing about the package, but later admitted he was expecting a package with controlled drugs, though did not know the drug type or quantity.

He said his partner was not involved and "at the end of the day it's all my fault", admitting that the cannabis found at his address belonged to him too.

Recordings on the covert audio device found two "relevant recordings", namely Picot's conversations with the postman, and another one with his partner, where Picot stated: "It's a nice bit of heroin instead of subbies so what do you want to do now? If you want to do it it's up to you."

He goes on to say: "I'm not going to take it all I'm going to take a little now."

His partner responded: "I don't want you doing it, 'cos you agreed last time," and, "I don't want to do it."

Pictured: Picot was sentenced in the Royal Court.

It was found the highlighter pens contained a total of 16 wraps, containing a combined total of 38.94g of heroin with an average purity of 33%. This was estimated to have a street value of £19,500 to £39,000.

Prosecuting, Advocate Matthew Maletroit recommended a sentence of four years and nine months in prison.

He said the importation had been "relatively sophisticated", the package "had been modified for the drugs to be concealed". that the "quantity of heroin was a commercial amount with a significant street value", and that it was "intended for onward distribution".

Defending Picot, Advocate Sarah Dale asked for a lower sentence of four years, saying he was involved in the importation but not in actual arrangements or onward selling, and that he had a more "minor role" in the importation.

She said "he did not have any involvement in the way the drug would be arriving," and that his "own part in the importation was to provide an address for the parcel to be received," later adding he would have received "no financial gain from this."

She also pointed the court to his "significant history of substance misuse and addiction which has sadly not yet been conquered despite the efforts of the professionals and Mr Picot himself."

She added since being in custody Picot has detoxed from drugs, was working towards enhanced prisoner status for December, had worked as a painter and decorator on the wing, and was working towards his next challenge: stopping his reliance on subutex, which is used for the treatment of opioid addiction.

She said "his aim is to be entirely chemical-free when he is released."

Summing up, Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae, who was sitting with Jurats Robert Christensen MBE, Jerry Ramsden and Steven Austin-Vautier, told Picot: "You are 36 years old with an extensive and unenviable criminal record."

He told Picot that he agreed with the Crown's assessment that "you were a warehouseman, you were fulfilling a crucial role in the chain of supply of controlled drugs, and you were entrusted with these valuable drugs by a third party."

He acknowledged that Picot "engaged in probation well following your last conviction and you were voluntarily engaging with the alcohol and drugs services prior to these offences."

Of Picot's 223 offences, the Deputy Bailiff recognised that there had been only one drug conviction, and added that "you've not been in trouble for five years, which for you is an achievement."

Noting that the court was "impressed" with the detoxification he had gone through in custody, he told him "we hope that you sustain the efforts you begun in custody."

He concluded saying that "heroin is a most pernicious drug that destroys and takes lives, and anyone involved in importing and dealing it will expect a custodial sentence."

For the count of importation, the court sentenced Picot to four years' imprisonment, and for the count of cannabis possession sentenced him to four weeks' imprisonment - both of which will be served concurrently.