Drug dealing appeal dismissed

Thursday 29 December 2022

A man's appeal against his conviction for dealing drugs in Guernsey was dismissed earlier this month.

42-year-old Martyn Clarke was sentenced to eight years behind bars in April of this year after being found guilty in March of supplying cannabis, Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), Gabapentin, and other strains of cannabinoids.

Clarke's appeal against his conviction was partly based on his assertion that he had not made any money though the proven drug deals.

Clarke's claim that undue weight was given to two text messages used against him during his trial was also dismissed. The appeal judges accepted that no class A drugs were seized but they accepted the Jurats' view during the original trial based on their understanding of the text messages used as evidence. 

The second part of Clarke's appeal against the length of sentence was withdrawn following the loss of the appeal against conviction.

It was submitted that the sentence of eight years’ imprisonment was "manifestly excessive" but as the conviction was upheld, Clarke abandoned his appeal against sentence.