Guernsey Press

Convicted user gave cannabis to serving prisoner on visit

A 45-YEAR-OLD man who supplied cannabis to an inmate while visiting him in prison has been jailed for 18 months.

Published
(Picture by Sophie Rabey, 28245127)

Mark Gill, who at a previous court appearance had given his address as Windyridge, Route des Clos Landais, St Saviour’s, admitted the offence when he appeared in the Royal Court.

The offence was committed on 5 June last year. As the visit was about to end, prison officers saw Gill hand something to the prisoner he was visiting.

A total of 1.68grams of the class B substance was recovered wrapped in cling film.

In January 2017, Gill was jailed for two years for importing 273.8grams of herbal cannabis via the postal system.

In his sentencing remarks, Deputy Bailiff Richard McMahon said supplying cannabis to a serving prisoner was a significant aggravating factor in the offence.

The court was unable to say whether the cannabis would have been for the prisoner’s own use or whether it would have been shared more widely.

The fact that it was a small quantity made no difference.

There were many people in the prison who had failed to heed warnings when it came to illegal substances and the rehabilitation of inmates was not helped if drugs got into the prison.

The reasons which the defendant gave for committing the crime did not help him even if his motivation was fear and the desire to protect his family.

If pressure was exerted on someone to do something, it was up to that person to decide what to do and they could not cite their vulnerability to those seeking to recruit them.

It had been an extremely foolhardy thing to do and the community should be able to expect the prison to be drug-free.

The court ordered that the drug be destroyed.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.