Cannabis found during self-isolation arrest leads to prison sentence

Saturday 03 April 2021

A man has been sent to prison after being charged for numerous offences, one of which took place after he’d been fined for three self-isolation breaches.

Chad Rowe, 36, appeared in the Magistrates Court charged with possessing cannabis, cultivating cannabis, committing assault and breaching bail.

Rowe had already been fined £10k for breaching self-isolation three times, on 6, 7 and 14 August last year. 

It was during the third offence, when Bailiwick Law Enforcement went to Rowe’s home address, that officers found 18g of cannabis and evidence of two cannabis plants in the property.

During the search, officers also found two boxes with seeds and cannabis paraphernalia.

Pictured: The cannabis plants were found after officers noticed two plant pots with “disturbed soil”.

Rowe was released on bail, where he then committed two further crimes.

In his defence, Advocate Sam Steel said Rowe had left his profession as a fisherman in pursuit of more stable income, to allow him to pay off his covid fine quicker. Rowe left for the UK to earn more than he could in Guernsey – because of this Rowe failed to comply with bail and did not appear when requested on 30 September.

Secondly, Rowe assaulted a man at the Weighbridge Taxi Rank on 23 November when back in Guernsey. Judge Graeme McKerrell heard how Rowe had been drinking in Town the day before a scheduled court appearance and had gotten into a drunken alteraction. 

The victim was thrown to the floor after trying to get into a taxi and Rowe had attempted to kick the victim in the head. Advocate Steel said it was because Rowe had been told the victim had assaulted his girlfriend.

After initially arresting the wrong person, officers were approached by Rowe who said "they were looking for him" and he was arrested.

Advocate Steel asked for leniency, explaining that the drugs were for personal use, and that Rowe had been drinking the night of the assault to “deal with” a detox from medication. 

His difficult upbringing was highlighted as mitigation and a reason for his drug use and violent behaviour. Rowe pleaded guilty to all charges.

Judge McKerrell took a dim view of Rowe’s violent behavior, and an even dimmer view of his attempts to pay back his covid fine.

“If your kick had made contact you might’ve killed him,” he said. “Why were you out spending money on alcohol when you could’ve put more money to paying off your fine?”

Pictured: “As soon as the going gets tough, you relapse,” said Judge McKerrell.

Rowe was sentenced to one month for possession and one month for cultivation of a class B drug, both to run concurrent. He was sentenced a further month for failure to comply with bail conditions, and a further six months for the taxi rank assault. In total Rowe was sentenced to eight months in Les Nicolles.

He will continue to pay back his covid fine after the sentence is served.