Postbox vandal jailed over cocaine delivery

Monday 10 August 2020

A 41-year old, who broke into a postbox to retrieve cocaine worth up to £1,400 he helped import into Jersey, has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison.

David Lumb had organised for the package to be sent on 8 March 2019 to a property across the road from his own address in St. Saviour.

The package containing 13.55g of cocaine was addressed to a previous tenant of the property, 'Mrs X', who had not lived at the address for many years. The woman had no connection to Lumb and he had no reason to use her old address.

The tenant at the time returned home in the afternoon of 8 March to find his letterbox had been forced open. He had no knowledge of the cocaine importation.

The Court heard that Lumb had been seen going into the building earlier that day, leaving with a package concealed down the front of his trousers and top.

Pictured: David Lumb appeared in Royal Court yesterday.

Lumb was arrested later that day. Having searched his wallet, officers found £400 in £20 notes and a bag of white powder, which Lumb claimed was "creatine" - a legal substance that athletes use to enhance performance.

When analysed, the powder was found to be cocaine with a purity of 28%, and Lumb later admitted that he had intended to sell 5g of the cocaine to friends and acquaintances to cover his own costs, and to use the remaining 8.55g himself. 

Crown Advocate Richard Pedley argued that Lumb had been involved in the organisation of the delivery by providing a false address and retrieving the drugs. He recommended a sentence of five years in prison. 

Pictured: When arrested the defendant claimed the white powder found in his wallet was creatine, but testing proved it to be 13.55g of Cocaine with 28% purity. 

Defending, Advocate Haines rejected the prosecution's interpretation, as "no scales were found at the property".

He said that at the time of the offence, his client had been using cocaine for six months after hitting "rock bottom" as he faced troubles in his personal life and family relationships.

He added that Lumb had always obtained the drugs from the same dealer, who had "offered to send the defendant the drugs" as he had to return to the UK. 

Whilst arguing for a lesser sentence, Advocate Haines also detailed the defendant's bank account activity, which involved Lumb sending large sums of money periodically to "support his children and family" back in the UK, and stated that Lumb was a family man who had become increasingly distant from his family life since moving to the island. 

The Court heard that Lumb had moved to the island to help lay fibre cables across the island in early 2016. Advocate Haines gave the Court several references written on Lumb's behalf, highlighting his "excellent employment record" and the fact he had been continuously working since leaving school.

Pictured: Advocate Michael Haines, who defended David Lumb

Sentencing Lumb to four-and-a-half years in prison, the Bailiff, Timothy Le Cocq, who was sitting with Jurats Ramsden, Thomas and Christensen, agreed with the prosecution's view that Lumb had been an organiser in the drug importation, noting how he had provided a false address and "vandalised" a post box, which risked embroiling an innocent party in the case. 

He also agreed with the defence's suggestion of a lesser sentence, as, while the defendant had previous convictions, none of those convictions were related to drug charges.

He also noted his good work ethic and work record, which he said "painted a different picture than the facts might have done".

The Bailiff also made an order to destroy the drugs.

Due to a dispute between the prosecution and the defence over the amount Lumb benefited from, the confiscation order will be decided at a later hearing.