Denied painkillers, so turned to cannabis

Sunday 12 January 2020

A former drug addict, who was denied prescribed painkillers following a back injury, has appeared before Guernsey's Magistrate's Court after he used cannabis as pain relief instead.

Nathaniel Robilliard, 33, was caught with 5.61g of cannabis resin as well as four plants in the early stages of growth, in October last year.

He was arrested and admitted he had been using the Class B drug for personal use.

In his mitigation, Robilliard's Advocate explained that he had been in "very desperate circumstances" when he turned to cannabis. He had suffered a back injury which put him in "absolute agony" and saw him "crawling about the house".

Due to his previous issues with drugs, his doctor was wary to provide him with strong painkillers. At this point, the Advocate said Robilliard "took advice from precisely the wrong person". She added that it was "a little bit to his credit" that didn't turn to harder drugs.

Pictured: The defendant pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis resin and cultivating four plants (file image).

"It's not an excuse, it's an explanation," the Advocate said.

The defendant claims he has not smoked cannabis since his arrest and has voluntarily appealed for help from a local organisation.

"Whatever the circumstances, the possession of controlled drugs is illegal in this jurisdiction," said Judge Gary Perry on sentencing. "It's not for people to make their own decision on whether they abide by that law or not."

Judge Perry noted how Robilliard had managed to "turn his life around" since his last drugs conviction eight years ago.

"I don't propose today to undo the good work that you have done. I feel there are exceptional circumstances in this case."

Taking all the mitigation into account, Judge Perry decided not to send the defendant straight to prison, but rather give him an opportunity to continue rebuilding his life.

Robilliard was sentenced to a five month suspended sentence, which he will have to serve if he commits any further crimes within the next two years.