The 49-year-old admitted a single count of knowingly being involved in the importation of the class B drug when he appeared before the Royal Court.
He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years.
Crown Advocate Fiona Russell told the court how customs officers were clearing mail at Guernsey Post’s Envoy House headquarters in October last year when they came across a package that was addressed to a man in the Vale.
No person of that name was known to live there.
It had been posted from Newcastle and contained 13.23g of herbal cannabis hidden in packets of sweets.
A missed delivery card was left at the property following which the defendant contacted Guernsey Post online, seeking re-delivery.
He identified himself by giving his own telephone number and e-mail address and asked for the package to be sent to the address and left in a garage.
He telephoned Guernsey Post in the days following, asking where his package was.
At 7.40am a few days later drug search warrant was executed at his home and he was arrested.
Hendy exercised his right to silence in interview.
In a prepared statement he confirmed that he had been living at that address since August and was dependent on cannabis. He had got a friend to post it to Guernsey for him. He had previous convictions for cannabis possession dating from 2002 and 2003.
Defending, Advocate Samuel Steel said his client offered an unreserved apology. His client had longstanding mental health challenges and had made a poor, impulsive and criminal decision to obtain cannabis the wrong way. He now had it prescribed to him. He outlined his client’s family circumstances to the court.
In the court’s sentencing remarks, Judge Catherine Fooks said while there was no evidence of supply in this case, the amount could not be classed as small under sentencing guidelines.
The defendant had shown considerable remorse for what he had done and his response to his offending had been positive.
The court had to balance the consequences of imposing an immediate custodial sentence against the impact that it would have on his family, she said, in suspending the prison term.
