"Extremely stupid" drug smuggler back in court

Sunday 03 July 2016

A convicted drug smuggler who narrowly escaped imprisonment earlier this year was back in court on Friday accused of breaching the terms of his probation.

Paris Botting, 29, was sentenced to 12 months probation and community service by the Royal Court on January 8 after pleading guilty to importing ecstasy, a Class A drug, and a class B drug known on the streets as 'magic crystals.' At that time, Bailiff William Bailhache told Botting and his co-defendant, while he was not jailing them, “We want you both to know how close you’ve come to it."

But yesterday Crown Advocate Conrad Yates told the Royal Court that since that time Botting’s commitment to his community service “has been found to be unsatisfactory.”

He said that Botting has arrived late, spat, refused to get out of the work van and stated “he wasn’t a slave” as well as using foul language with probation officers, whom he told he intended to do only a minimal amount of work.

Speaking on behalf of Botting, Defence Advocate David Steenson, said he was not going to submit that Botting “is not extremely stupid,” nor that his behaviour had not been “awful,” but he questioned whether an actual breach had occurred.

“The penny has now dropped that he has been exhibiting extremely stupid behaviour,” Mr Steenson said. “It would be better to appear co-operative but bad behaviour is not a breach.”

Botting will not learn whether his behaviour was “awful” enough to void his probation and send him to jail until next month.

Commissioner Julian Clyde-Smith questioned whether the Crown's evidence constituted a breach and he asked that the matter be brought back to court on July 12.