‘Wheeler dealer’ jailed for £94k drugs import

Monday 01 July 2019

A 28-year-old Birmingham man, who posed as a 'tattoo artist' as he smuggled over £94,000 worth of cocaine and cannabis to Jersey in his spare car wheel, has been jailed for six-and-a-half years.

Daryl Richard France (28) appeared in the Royal Court today to be sentenced for the drugs haul, which he said came about as a result of being coerced by people he was afraid of.

France pleaded ‘guilty’ to the three charges connected with the importation of just over 87g of cocaine and almost 2kg of both cannabis resin and herbal cannabis.

Pictured: The drugs were stashed in his car's spare tyre (Customs & Immigration).

In total, the drugs were found to have a street value of between £73,000 and £94,000.

Crown Advocate Richard Pedley, appearing for the prosecution, summarised the case for the Court, explaining that the import was intercepted at the Harbour when France and his girlfriend arrived via the Commodore Clipper on the evening of 25 January of this year.

Pictured: Daryl France was apprehended at the Harbour earlier this year.

The couple travelled with their car and France told the Customs Officer who stopped the vehicle that he was “a self-employed tattoo artist [and] that he intended visiting local tattoo parlours trying to sell tattoo equipment and that they were staying in the island for just one night.”

The car was searched and, with the help of a drug detector dog, the drugs were eventually found after an X-ray revealed several packages stashed inside the vehicle’s spare wheel.

The Court heard that during interview, France later admitted that “he had been forced to undertake the importation following threats to his wellbeing and that of his family.”

He explained to Customs officers that he was a drug user in the past and had become a cocaine addict following some mental health issues. It was this, a debt which he still owed his dealer as well as violence and threats that he was subjected to which he says “forced” him to bring the drugs over.

Pictured: France admitted his involvement in the drugs haul.

He admitted knew there were drugs in the wheel, but he was only “told the drugs were just cannabis samples for the dealer’s contacts in Jersey.”

The Court was told that in return, France would receive £250 to have his car fixed, travel and accommodation paid for in the sum of £440 and it was agreed that his £400 debt to his dealer would be cleared. 

His girlfriend was found to have nothing to do with the importation.

Crown Advocate Pedley accepted that France’s role in the import had merely been one of “courier” but he added that this is a “vital part in the chain.”

Making his recommendations on sentencing, the Crown Advocate noted that the punishment should reflect that “people who import drugs into the island can have a devastation impact on the community.”

He therefore asked for the Court to impose a seven-year custodial sentence on the 28-year-old.

Pictured: France was jailed for 6.5 years for the drugs import.

Advocate Michael Haines, representing France, emphasised his client’s “previous good character” and the “significant remorse” he felt for his part in this incident. Having addressed the Court, he asked them to impose a five-year jail term.

The case was heard by the Bailiff Sir William Bailhache, presiding, and Jurats Grime, Hughes, Olsen, Pitman and Christensen. 

Handing down the sentence, the Bailiff told France that he may have thought he “had no way of knowing” what drugs were in his spare tyre, but nonetheless reminded him: “You took the risk.” 

Justifying the higher sentences imposed in Jersey for these charges than elsewhere, the Bailiff explained that drugs - particularly Class A substances like cocaine - are “an evil which we try to keep out of this island.” 

Having said this, he sentenced France to six-and-a-half years in jail for trafficking the drugs.