‘Did not know’ 10kg of cannabis was in suitcase
A MAN told the Royal Court yesterday he had not known he had almost 10kg of cannabis in his suitcase when he returned to Guernsey after a drug-taking binge in Manchester.
Jamie Malcolm Ferbrache, 27, and Daniel Mark Gauvain, 28, deny the importation while Luke Arron Blondel, 37, who was employed as a baggage handler with Aurigny at the time, has admitted it and is waiting to be sentenced.
It is the prosecution’s case that the three men were acting together on 16 March last year when the cannabis was imported.
Mr Ferbrache and Mr Gauvain were passengers on the inbound flight from Manchester.
Blondel removed the cannabis from Mr Ferbrache’s suitcase while it was still in the hold.
He was arrested immediately, while the other two men were arrested in the arrivals hall shortly afterwards.
Mr Ferbrache told a customs officer that he had been travelling alone.
When giving evidence he said he had done this in case Mr Gauvain ‘got pulled in for something’.
Prior to his arrest he said he had never met Blondel and did not know who he was.
He and Mr Gauvain had grown up on the same estate together but they did not really speak.
Mr Ferbrache gave the court details of his drug dependency. He had started taking drugs at the age of 12. Early last year he had been going through a bad time and planned to go to Manchester to see a friend and take drugs.
In February last year he had been surprised when Mr Gauvain had called him.
He had heard from Mr Ferbrache’s brother that he was going away and Mr Gauvain had asked if he could take some money for him.
While he could not recall the exact amount, Mr Ferbrache said it had been ‘a few thousand’.
‘He told me there was nothing to worry about, but I refused,’ said Mr Ferbrache.
‘If there was nothing to worry about I wondered why he was not taking it himself.’
Mr Gauvain booked a hotel room in Manchester for two. Both men bought their air tickets independently.
Mr Ferbrache said he had planned to stay with his friend but ended up staying at the hotel with Mr Gauvain.
On the day they arrived Mr Ferbrache said he met his friend, from whom he bought cocaine, which he snorted, crack cocaine, which he smoked, and heroin, which he injected. It was the first time he had taken heroin and his mental state was such that he had not been bothered if he took an overdose.
He could remember only bits of the weekend. On the morning of their departure, Mr Ferbrache said he had woken up to find Mr Gauvain packing his things in his [Mr Ferbrache’s] case.
When he challenged him about this, Mr Gauvain had said: ‘Don’t worry we’ll sort it out when we get back.’
It had been raining at the time and they were running late. He said Mr Gauvain had lifted his [Mr Ferbrache’s] suitcase in and out of the taxi. While his memory of events was sketchy, Mr Ferbrache said he accepted checking his own suitcase [the one containing the cannabis] in at Manchester Airport as it had his travel label on.
Prosecution witness Ana Gomes was a cabin crew member on the flight from Manchester. She said ground staff had alerted them to the fact that two men who had been acting suspiciously were on board. The men were sitting in separate seats.
A decision was taken to lock the door which separated the inside of the aircraft from the hold. They normally did this only when they were carrying weapons.
A colleague had initially struggled to lock the door. She thought the men were watching cabin crew members.
When the aircraft landed and before the engines were turned off, one of the men received a text. He had turned to the other and both had nodded in acknowledgement.
Mr Ferbrache accepted that he had got a text but denied that he and Mr Gauvain had nodded to each other. He said anybody would look at someone who was struggling to lock a door.
The case continues.
