Drunk 20-year-old slapped bouncer and had pill stash at home

Sunday 24 March 2019

Hair wax which was mistaken for some form of drug led to Guernsey Police searching the room of a 20-year-old man, where they found more than 30 Diazepam tablets and a small amount of cannabis, Guernsey Magistrates' Court has heard.

Joseph Conway appeared before the Court for sentencing last week, after he pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing controlled drugs, and also behaving in a disorderly manner.

He was fined a total of £900 for the drugs and given 40 hours of community service to complete for the behavioural charge.

The disorderly conduct incident happened just before 01:00 on 28 October on the North Plantation. Conway was trying to get into Folies Nightclub after he had been at a house party, where he was said to have drunk alcohol to excess. The nightclub only allows in men over the age of 21, so Conway tried to walk past the bouncer without showing his ID.

But when the doorman asked to see it and told the defendant he was too young, Conway started to shout and became aggressive. After a few moments the doorman thought he had calmed down, so pushed him back and turned away, but it was then that the 20-year-old lashed out and slapped the doorman around the head. 

The doorman was hurt, but decided not to report the incident to the police, however moments later the defendant saw the police coming to the area for a separate incident and approached them shouting. He was cautioned to stop swearing, but continued to do so until he was arrested for disorderly behaviour. 

When the officers searched Conway, they found a white paste which they believed to be a controlled drug. It has since been shown that paste was hair wax that was not in a tin, but it still led to a search of the defendant's home address, where police found 0.62gs of cannabis resin and 31 Diazepam tablets. 

Acting on Conway's behalf, Advocate Sam Maindonald told the court her client had stolen those tablets from a relative who was prescribed them, but Judge Gary Perry was not satisfied he could view the amount of tablets as a 'small quantity'. In sentencing, Conway was given credit for his guilty plea and also his early cooperation with the investigation.