Drug dealer locked up

Tuesday 07 January 2020

Information given to Guernsey Police has helped send a class A drug dealer to prison.

Hayden Price, 22, was given three years in prison after being caught with one ecstasy tablet in his pocket last April when Police came across him in a bar on the North Plantation in Town.

The Officer decided to search Price because of wider suspicions the force had about his involvement with drugs. Alongside the tablet that was found, a thorough search of his phone also revealed he had been trying to sell and selling MDMA to a number of people.

Price appeared in the Royal Court for sentencing yesterday, facing two counts: one for possession of MDMA, a class A drug, and one for selling it. 

In interviews with police after his arrest, Price said he had been looking for people who might have wanted to buy pills so he could get them cheaper for himself, but declined to comment further. 

Pictured: Price was taken into custody after his arrest, and then bailed until his sentencing. 

After that, a High Tech Crime Unit search of Price's phone found text messages to a number of different people asking if they knew anyone looking to buy "pills". There was also a message several days after those where he suggested to someone he had sold 50 pills, and that was around half of his stock. There were other texts offering people individual pills, and talking about getting more supply.

Price came to Guernsey two years ago to work in the hospitality industry. He has been working as a chef for a hotel. He had no previous convictions, and his Advocate Sam Steel said it was on a night out when he was drunk that Price accepted the package of pills. After he woke up, he realised he needed to try and shift them to cover up his mistake. 

The Court was bound by Court of Appeal guidelines though, which put the minimum starting point for one to 500 Class A pills at seven years. Because of his guilty pleas, previous good character and remorse, Price was given a generous discount to that guideline though. 

Judge Russell Finch said: "You are an active drug dealer of the most serious category. Guernsey is no place for drug dealers." 

In total, Price was given three years for the dealing charge, and one month - to be served concurrently - for the possession.

Pictured top: Price was caught with an orange Ecstasy tablet with the Warner Bros logo on it. He also referred to the WB logo pills in text messages.