Prison for brothers caught with commercial amounts of Ecstasy

Wednesday 18 October 2017

A 39-year-old man, and his 37-year old brother, have been jailed for five-and-a-half years, and four-and a-half years respectively, in two separate cases by the Royal Court.

Oliver Munks was caught with 390 MDMA tablets, and his brother Laurence Munks with 95, ten days apart in June.

Crown Advocate Conrad Yates told the Court that Laurence Munks (pictured right) was arrested by police officers on 18 June after he had tried to run away from them. They found 95 tablets on him, 90 of which were blue and yellow with an 'IKEA' logo on them, as well as £2,400 in cash.

A similar type of tablets were linked to the death of 18-year-old Kyle Pringle, who passed away on 17 June - but no connection with Mr Munks has been alleged.  

During his first interview, he stated that he had purchased the tablets for £150 from one of his friends. He admitted trying a few of them and said they had given him a "little buzz," adding he thought they were synthetic speed but "definitely not ecstasy." He told officers he intended to keep them for his own use and that he could get through 20 tablets in a weekend. He denied that the cash was from the proceeds of drugs, saying it was just his savings.

When experts analysed the tablets they found them to contain between 190 to 235 milligrams of MDMA per tablet, well over the average of 50 to 150mg, and estimated their value to be between £1,900 to £2,375.

Laurence Munks later explained that a friend had asked him to meet two young people on Nelson Street who gave him an envelope of cash and a package contains 100 tablets or less. He said he was meant to hold the money and pills until someone contacted him to tell him what to do with them. 

Advocate Niall McDonald said that Mr Monks expected the package to contain cannabis but inspected it soon afterwards and found the tablets which he believed to be speed. He said: "This is not someone who is normally involved in dealing with drugs or looking after them." He added that Mr Monks' role was a small one, at the end of the chain of supply, explaining he had made the decision to take the drugs while intoxicated.

Handing out the sentence, Royal Court Commissioner Sir Michael Birt, who was sitting with Jurats Paul Nicolle, Charles Blampied, Jerry Ramsden, Sally Sparrow and Rozanne Thomas said: "We are pleased to know you want to be a better role model for your child, he deserves it. But you will need to conquer your drug and alcohol habit." He followed the Crown's submissions and sentenced him to four-and-a-half years in prison.

Pictured: Laurence Munks was found with 90 blue and yellow MDMA tablets with an 'IKEA' logo on them.

Ten days after Laurence Munks was arrested, his older brother Oliver was found at a friend's house with four plastic bags containing 390 purple, crest-shaped MDMA tablets with a Barcelona Football Club design. A drugs expert said the tablets contained 173 milligrams of MDMA each, and estimated their value between £5,850 and £9,750. 

Pictured: 390 purple, crest-shaped MDMA tablets with a Barcelona Football Club design were found in Oliver Munks' possession.  

Advocate Adam Harrison who was defending Oliver Munks said that he had a long history of drug misuse having been introduced to them at the age of 14 and having started using heroin three years later. He said there was evidence of perseverance as he had attempted to beat his addiction on several occasions but "regrettably" hadn't been able to maintain his sobriety.

Handing out his sentence, the Royal Court Commissioner told Oliver Munks: "You have squandered your potential because of your drug addiction. Until you can conquer your drug habit, the outlook is not promising."

He then added that the Court felt the Crown's recommendations were correct and sentenced him to five-and-a-half years in prison. 

Following the sentencings, the Police issued a statement saying: "Today’s sentencing reflects that drug trafficking criminality remains an ongoing priority for the States of Jersey Police and partner agencies. Both these individuals played a role in attempting to distribute Class A Drugs in the Island, and we will continue to target any persons involved in this type of criminality which has potential to cause significant harm to the community.